By Ashley Toland Editor

There seem to be a lot of people who have a problem with alcohol in Mobile, and I’m not talking about those who are (or should be) attending meetings. Over the last few weeks, citizens have come to the Mobile City Council to plead for them not to grant liquor licenses to various bars located from the hopping streets of the LoDa entertainment district to pool halls in wild, wild WeMo. All of this, while the Alabama Beverage Control (ABC) has launched a full on assault against downtown clubs and restaurants, according to their owners.

So why is everybody so against the sauce, or rather the selling of it? It varies from urination to damnation to regulation.

Don’t pee on my van and tell me it’s raining

Last issue, I detailed the cries of a “concerned citizen,” who tearfully opposed any drinking establishment being allowed to open in 455 Dauphin St. The Citizen, who lives right next door, had been battling the owners of the now defunct Bizmark club. He had secretly taped its patrons over many months and caught them doing stupid drunk things like vomiting on the pavement, peeing on the walls next door and even a few barroom brawls that spilled onto the streets. And probably the most troubling (to him), the manager of the bar whizzing on his van.

The Citizen edited this into quite a film and made copies for all the council members.

If you hear the other side of the story, the Bizmark managers and owners say they tried everything in the world to appease this guy, from keeping their garbage inside until right before the truck came so it wouldn’t be on his sidewalk, hosing off his sidewalk and even installing a control that would not allow the volume of the music to be played over a certain level. They said there was no satisfying this guy, and he constantly harassed them. This harassment, they say, is what caused them to (quite childishly) pee on his van.

(Pause for a moment. I’m literally writing a column that includes a justification for vehicular urination. Wow, I can’t wait to mail my student loan check next month. It all seems so worth it now.)

Anyway, this club closed, and it did seem to have management issues, mainly because it was patronized primarily by college kids who are still too young to realize guzzling Long Island Teas and 10 different shots in 30 minutes is really not a good idea. (I remember those days, alternating between Amaretto Sours, margaritas and Malibu and pineapples – ahhh sweet porcelain God – how I do not miss thee!)

A new establishment, The Alabama Music Box, opened its doors Friday, June 13. Apparently the guys who ran the former Cell Block have set up shop there, and from all accounts, they are quite well respected along the street. They will have to apply for a new liquor license, according to Councilman William Carroll, who represents the district.

Thy body is a temple

The very next week, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Theodore and a member of the Theodore Improvement Association asked the council not to grant a liquor license to Player’s Pool Hall on Bellingrath Road because of its proximity to a church and an apartment complex where some kids live, as well as the general detriment they feared it would bring to the area.

The pastor and company were not sure if there had been any problems with the location, but just felt sure the introduction of alcohol into the equation spelled trouble.

So this sparked a debate among the councilors to whether they could legally deny liquor licenses because of “speculation.” Council Attorney Jim “J-Ro” Rossler gave them a definitive answer – no they could not. (There are some allowances when the establishments are near schools or daycares, but not churches). Councilman John Williams felt they should be able to have more discretion.

They held this particular resolution over for two weeks, while they awaited police reports on the business, even as far back as when it was a convenience station 10 or 15 years ago.

But this brings us back to the heart of the debate, as with 455 Dauphin St., are we going to penalize addresses or owners?

Unless we go back to the days of Prohibition, selling alcohol is legal and regulated by the state (quite zealously lately), and I don’t see any way the council can legally deny new owners with clean records at least a shot (no pun intended). If they blow it, there are mechanisms in place to penalize and ultimately close any trouble spots down.

ABC – not as easy as 123

For weeks, I have heard tales of horror from folks who have been downtown when the ABC Board has “raided” various establishments. The folks say they are carrying guns and wearing SWAT gear and asking everyone in the bar for IDs and membership cards (for those clubs with that particular type of license).

So when I was asked to attend a downtown bar owners’ meeting addressing this I was curious to see if their accounts were as horrifying as the patrons’.

They were worse.

In what sounds like complete and total harassment, the various owners and managers (none of whom wanted to go on the record for fear of retribution) told stories of being cited or warned for the most inane offenses, such as having two bottles of the same wine open or two wells set up behind a bar with one bartender.

Another bar owner said they came in videotaping customers. He said they walked up to each table and shoved the video recorder in their faces, without identifying what or why they were doing this, which obviously freaked many of them out, causing them to leave. Obviously, Big Brother is not good for business.

Many were warned for not having the right “person in charge” written on a sign, an ABC regulation. Another said undercover agents came into a club that requires patrons to fill out membership cards and the agents inverted two numbers of their driver’s license numbers and then subsequently threatened to fine them for not catching the inversion.

According to these owners, they are not just targeting the bars anymore, as they fined two restaurants, a couple of weekends ago, one known for being family friendly; the other, a fine dining establishment. (Just what you want to see when you are dropping a bill for a meal.)

No one present at the meeting said they had been fined for selling alcohol to minors.

In fairness, the ABC Board has not had a chance to respond to these allegations. Lt. Cook, who is in charge of the Mobile office, was out of town all last week. He did have another agent relay he would be happy to address these concerns in a letter to the editor or an interview when he returns.

And just as the Bizmark owners and the “concerned citizen” can tell you – there are always two sides to every story.

To be continued….

Ashley Toland is Lagniappe editor. Contact her at ashleytoland@lagniappemobile.com.

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