Baristas denied full liquor license; fate of business license also in question

Ward recently made national headlines after unveiling a new sculpture as part of the sign for his restaurant, located at 460 W. State St. in Hurricane, of a bull with large genitalia which sparked outrage within the community and spurred a petition asking the council to revoke his business license.

Mayor John Bramall said during the hearing that he had received nearly 700 requests by citizens for the council to take away Ward’s business license. Bramall said that this is something other mayors have proven can be done.

“Because of Mr. Ward in the last meeting threatening litigation, I did a comprehensive review,” Bramall said, “and one of the things I looked at because of the requests [was] do we even continue to grant a license? I’ve got 655 requests that we deny a business license, as well as other emails and requests, and if you’d like to request them, I’m happy to turn them over to you. And I will go on the record as the mayor who cares about my city very deeply. I’ve been very supportive of having the right to commerce, and to do business, and to provide the services for the people here in town.”

Bramall went on to cite examples in New York City and Las Vegas of mayors shutting down business as a result of business practices involving attitudes and public clamor, which he said has grown in Hurricane over the past few weeks.

Under Utah law, a business applying for a license to sell hard liquor through the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control must first get permission from their city council. According to Nina McDermott, the director of compliance for the DABC, the law recognizes the right of the council to make that decision for any reason they deem fit.

“We can’t even accept an application without their approval,” she said. “And we have no say over why the council may deny their consent. The law recognizes the city has that right, and we don’t have any authority over that. There isn’t an appeal process someone can go through either if they are denied consent by their council.”

In this case, the Hurricane City Council refused to consent for three reasons: the approximate distance from the restaurant to the high school which the council argued is too close, the restaurant’s management style, and the fact that a full liquor license does not fit the current image of Hurricane City downtown in that there are no other restaurants with a full liquor license at this time.

Ward began threatening to sue the City of Hurricane in federal court even before council members had voted on the motion for denial made by Councilman Darin Thomas.

Ward’s attorney, Erin Carson, would not elaborate after the meeting as to what legal foundation he would use to file a lawsuit since the law gives the city council the right to refuse the license for any reason.

The threat, however, came only after Ward’s attorney spent more than an hour trying to convince council members that his client—who is known among Hurricane locals for angry outbursts—had “turned over a new leaf.”

Council members, however, were skeptical. Thomas, who is a school principal, said giving Ward a liquor license after he had recently threatened the council and called them names is akin to giving the schoolyard bully the ball after he has incessantly picked on the other children in the schoolyard.

“I’m a simple person. I’m a school teacher. I’m a principal. If this was a playground we’d call him a bully,” Thomas said. “[Y]ou’re telling me he’s high strung, but in elementary school he’s a bully, going around taking what he wants, taking on whoever he wants, and now this bully has a turned a leaf or this high strung individual has turned a leaf, and you want us to give him a liquor license.”

Ward said he had also had his share of hurt.

“I’ve never asked for sympathy and I’m not asking for any now but you guys have to realize, whoever it is and for whatever reason, for seven years I’ve woken up to horrible things said about my family online, horrible things said about me that aren’t true,” Ward said. “That hurts. I mean seven years of that, you know on Yelp and everything. I mean the things that have been said about me, I’ve had to go see a doctor. I’ve taken a tremendous amount of psychological abuse.”

During the meeting, Ward chimed in alongside his attorney promising he would obey all the laws and make sure there were no problems at his establishment if they would agree to the license. He also maintained he would not be overseeing the day-to-day operations of the restaurant any longer, as he had turned that responsibility over to a new manager.

“I’m burned out on the restaurant so to speak … I’m losing my interest,” Ward said. “I’ve kind of become like I hide from the customers, you know? Over the years, it’s not my thing anymore. I’m done boasting and bragging and jumping up and down how great we are and everything.”

His sentiments echoed ones he made just two years ago as the council then debated whether to give him a full liquor license.

The city minutes dated February 7, 2013, show that Ward “promised they (he and his restaurant staff) will be perfect if they are granted a beer and wine license without any need for full alcohol licensing.”

At the time, Thomas, the same councilman to make the motion Thursday to deny the full license, motioned to give Ward a beer and wine license. The council approved the motion. The minutes also reflected that Thomas “suggested Barista’s reach out to local residents and fix the word of mouth reputation they have gained.”

This time, however, council members pointed to the 47 complaints filed with the police department in the last seven years, most of them largely coming from Ward himself complaining about customers that are unhappy with management.

“You say things are hugs and kisses,” Thomas said, “but even in 2014, we’ve had several incidents where we had angry customers, abusive language, swearing, calling the police, threats. So again, my question is, you’ve indicated you’ve kind of turned over a new leaf. I want to know, when did you turn over that new leaf? Was it last week? A year ago?”

Councilwoman Pam Humphries suggested the council vote “no” to the license with the possibility that Ward could resubmit his application in six months for review if he has no violations or complaints during that time. However, Ward expressed concern, saying that set him up for anyone who didn’t like him or his business to make up untrue complaints with the goal of preventing him from getting a license.

Thomas, however, did not make Humphries’ proposal part of his motion, saying he would not agree to review the license again in six months.

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