Liquor License

The Marble Bar at the Congress Hotel was quietly re-listed again last week. The bar/club, which once hosted the likes of R.E.M. and Iggy Pop, went up for lease in December at an undisclosed price. But it seems no offers materialized. Congress Financial, which bought the hotel last year, retired the bar from the market several months ago, said Henry Deford, the JBL Real estate agent handling the property. The company listed it for lease because, with all 36 units at the once iconic hotel filled, it also wants to revive the bar, Deford said last year.

Here's the gist of what legislative auditors discovered when they recently evaluated Baltimore's liquor board: It is doing a lousy job. And here's a short summary of the liquor board's response: Yup. It would be shocking if it weren't so predictable. Does anyone living in this city believe the Baltimore Board of Liquor License Commissioners has ever done an adequate job of overseeing businesses that sell alcohol? Maybe a few former commissioners, but probably not them either. Not that the business of regulating bars and package stores is without controversy elsewhere in the state.

Decker's in Bel Air won't be selling beer, wine or liquor for at least the next seven months. As a penalty for improper record-keeping and purchasing liquor from someone other than a licensed wholesaler, members of the Harford County Liquor Control Board Wednesday suspended the license for the liquor store for 30 days. That was followed by the board revoking the license for making a false application for a liquor license renewal. The licensees of the store, Joseph Borromeo, a 75 percent owner, and Virgil Dale Davis, a 25 percent owner, can never apply for a liquor license in Harford County again.

A neighborhood organization is protesting the liquor-license renewal of The Museum, the establishment now occupying what was once the Brass Elephant in Mount Vernon . According to Baltimore City Liquor License Board documents, the Mount Vernon Belvedere Improvement Association is asking the board not to renew the property's Class B restaurant license for the following reasons: 1) licensees leasing their license or otherwise permitting a non-licensee, Walter Webb, to operate an establishment primarily promoting and serving alcoholic beverages; 2)

The Columbia Wegmans' liquor license application should be denied for: 1) violating state law, 2) violating county zoning 3) eroding the business viability of the neighboring Columbia Villages and 4) inconsistency with Howard County's general plan. Maryland state law requires retail liquor operations to be separate from grocery and chain stores. Wegmans is obviously both, and their application is a blatant attempt to circumvent the existing law. Liquor retailers statewide are rightfully incensed that the rules under which their businesses were started and grew are about to be swept away.

Jake's WayBack Burgers, which opened in October in the Festival, just received its liquor license to serve beer. Owners Joe and Patty Borowski are local Harford County residents. Joe was facing a layoff as a draftsman and decided to take his family's future in his own hands and open Jake's with his wife and son. Patty is a local nurse. Jake's employs 21 people and does several school fundraisers along with other fundraisers in the community.

More than three years after first filing for a liquor license transfer and almost two years after opening their restaurant, the owners of Meet 27 are closer to overcoming opposition from a small group of neighbors. The decision, from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, went largely in favor of the Remington restaurant, which has been embroiled in what the court described as a "long-running dispute between a Baltimore City restaurant and its neighbors. " The court disagreed with a lower court ruling that went the neighbors' way.  The upper court determined that the Board of Liquor License Commissioners of Baltimore City, commonly known as the Baltimore City Liquor Board, was within its rights when it granted the transfer to Meet 27 in August 2010 after first denying it two months earlier.

The decision regarding the liquor license at the Wegmans store by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board is absurd and infuriating ("No license for liquor store at Wegmans," Aug. 2.) The only purpose Maryland's liquor laws serve is protectionism. and this decision certainly smacks of protectionism. The board's reasons for rejection are spurious: • "Not necessary for the accommodation of the public…" I would find the ability to purchased alcoholic beverages while parked at Wegmans very convenient.

Meet 27 still doesn't have a liquor license. The new Remington restaurant had been approved for a Class B license by the Baltimore City Liquor License Board, but petitioners affiliated with a splinter neighborhood association have successfully petitioned to have that approval reversed. For the time being, Meet 27 will operate as a BYOB, its owners say. The owners, who include Richard D'Souza and Paul Goldberg, are appealing a ruling handed down today by W. Michel Pierson that denied their request to have the original decision remanded back to the liquor board for review.

Baltimore's liquor board renewed the license of a downtown nightclub at a hearing Thursday, dismissing claims by several surrounding hotels that the bar is the site of late-night noise and unruly behavior. The Velvet Rope had been targeted by police and a quasi-city agency two months ago after a near-riot following a hip-hop concert and a shooting near the club, in the 200 block of E. Redwood St. Although the club's licensee reached an agreement with the police commissioner to curb the problems, three of the surrounding hotels led a petition to have the Velvet Rope's liquor license revoked.

A Towson law firm plans to challenge the renewal of the Recher Theatre 's liquor license in an effort to stop the establishment's plan to become a nightclub. The Charles E. Brooks Law Offices will file a petition with the county liquor board within the next week on behalf of residents and property owners, according to Jean Kosloski, an attorney with the firm. Liquor licenses in Baltimore County expire April 30. "We object to them becoming a nightclub," Kosloski said. "That type of usage in the center of Towson is kind of a disaster waiting to happen.

More than three years after first filing for a liquor license transfer and almost two years after opening their restaurant, the owners of Meet 27 are closer to overcoming opposition from a small group of neighbors. The decision, from the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, went largely in favor of the Remington restaurant, which has been embroiled in what the court described as a "long-running dispute between a Baltimore City restaurant and its neighbors. " The court disagreed with a lower court ruling that went the neighbors' way.  The upper court determined that the Board of Liquor License Commissioners of Baltimore City, commonly known as the Baltimore City Liquor Board, was within its rights when it granted the transfer to Meet 27 in August 2010 after first denying it two months earlier.

Jake's WayBack Burgers, which opened in October in the Festival, just received its liquor license to serve beer. Owners Joe and Patty Borowski are local Harford County residents. Joe was facing a layoff as a draftsman and decided to take his family's future in his own hands and open Jake's with his wife and son. Patty is a local nurse. Jake's employs 21 people and does several school fundraisers along with other fundraisers in the community.

J. Patrick's Pub, the Locust Point Irish bar loved for its authentic feel and live music, will close after New Year's Eve, according to this Baltimore Business Journal report . The building, located at 1371 Andre St., will be placed on an auction block Jan. 10, according to the report. The bar's contents and liquor license, along with the building itself, will be open to bidding. The BBJ's Jack Lambert also writes that there are potential buyers along the East Coast, and they could be interested in keeping it an Irish pub. Joseph Patrick Byrne, who died in July, opened J. Patrick's Pub in 1987.

At the Music Cafe on Ridge Road, the restaurant local residents call the hippest in town, owner Randy Anderson says he's thrilled he'll soon be able to add beer and wine to his menu for the first time. A few blocks away, at the down-home Red Rooster restaurant just off Main Street, owner Pat Miller says she'd sooner close her 10-seat establishment than serve booze. "I don't need the problems that would bring. I thought things were just fine the way they were," she says. This week, residents of this rural town of about 15,000 in upper Montgomery County finally put to bed a question that has divided the community since 1884: Should it allow the sale of alcohol or not?

The Baltimore County liquor board has scheduled an Oct. 29 hearing for the Recher Theatre in Towson following a weekend event that drew a raucous crowd. The business was charged under a regulation that says "all licensees shall operate their establishments in such a manner as to avoid disturbing the peace, tranquility, safety, health, and quiet of the neighborhood where located. " Seven people were charged in incidents related to the event on accusations that included disorderly conduct and assault.

A 16-year-old caught drinking beer in a North Laurel restaurant has cost Wild Buffalo Grill owner Maria Marek a $500 fine and a six-day license suspension on two consecutive weekends starting Friday, according to a decision by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Association. Howard police Detective Mark Baxter told the board that officers found the youth drinking inside the restaurant the night of Nov. 12. John Curtis, the manager and Marek's brother-in-law, told them a regular patron, age 26, had bought a "bucket" of five beers, and the youth took one, police said.

After more than a year of negotiations, two community groups reached an agreement Thursday with Sweet Sin Bakery and Cafe owner Richard D'Souza, who can now serve drinks at his Remington restaurant, but has agreed to close at earlier hours. D'Souza's bid for a liquor license failed last month, but the agreement reached with the Charles Village Civic Association and the Greater Remington Improvement Association revived his plan. The compromise requires him to stop serving alcohol at 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and close at 11 p.m. On weekends, Sweet Sin must stop serving alcohol at 12:30 a.m. and close at 1 a.m. The Baltimore Board of Liquor License Commissioners approved the plan Thursday.

The decision regarding the liquor license at the Wegmans store by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board is absurd and infuriating ("No license for liquor store at Wegmans," Aug. 2.) The only purpose Maryland's liquor laws serve is protectionism. and this decision certainly smacks of protectionism. The board's reasons for rejection are spurious: • "Not necessary for the accommodation of the public…" I would find the ability to purchased alcoholic beverages while parked at Wegmans very convenient.

The Columbia Wegmans' liquor license application should be denied for: 1) violating state law, 2) violating county zoning 3) eroding the business viability of the neighboring Columbia Villages and 4) inconsistency with Howard County's general plan. Maryland state law requires retail liquor operations to be separate from grocery and chain stores. Wegmans is obviously both, and their application is a blatant attempt to circumvent the existing law. Liquor retailers statewide are rightfully incensed that the rules under which their businesses were started and grew are about to be swept away.