Liquor Permits Still To Be Decided

BENTONVILLE — A three-day marathon of meetings by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in Little

Rock ended Thursday with at least 15 retail liquor permits unawarded.

The board heard from 55 applicants why they should be among the first to receive liquor permits after Benton County residents voted to go wet in November. The 55 were selected from 69 applicants during a lottery drawing in June. The county is eligible for only 55 permits.

Thirty-nine applicants were approved, and one hearing was continued for 60 days. That leaves a potential 15 permits still out there, and the possibility of a 16th permit, for the remaining 14 applicants who weren’t a part of the first round of hearings.

Denied applicants have 30 days to file an appeal to the ruling in circuit court. The 30-day clock begins when the order of the board is mailed to the applicant. If the denial is upheld or if no appeal is made, the applicant cannot apply for another liquor permit for at least a year, according to the alcohol agency’s regulations. There is a caveat to the regulation that says the one-year rule will not apply if the permit was denied solely based on the site location, and a new site is used in the second application.

Harold Schwartz Jr. drew No. 65 in the lottery, meaning 10 permits had to be denied before he got a chance at a license. He said Friday his odds are a lot better after the first round, though he anticipates there will be a waiting game while the alcohol agency determines what happens with appeals.

“I’m certainly still interested if I get called,” Schwartz said.

Even those who were approved this week have a wait before them. They applied after their hearings for a retail beer permit that takes at least 30 days before approval. Some people are looking at six to nine months’ construction time for buildings, while people leasing or moving into buildings have a shorter period.

Timothy Harrell with Mac’s Get-N-Go in Bella Vista was approved for a liquor permit Thursday. His store already sells beer with an active permit. He has to figure out what to do with the fuel pumps at the store, as state law doesn’t allow gasoline sales as part of a liquor store. Fuel sales must be operated as a separate business with its own building, such as a kiosk near the pumps.

“The fuel pumps I’ll either segregate into a separate business or take completely away,” Harrell told the board Thursday. “I might put a building outside to where the gas is completely segregated from the liquor store itself.”

Harrell estimated he could be selling liquor within 60 to 90 days.

Other approved permit holders still face hurdles from city governments. Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree traveled to Little Rock to protest Chad Smith’s permit application for Chad’s Beverage Shop at 139 N. Curtis, Suite C. Crabtree said he doubted the proposed location could meet required setbacks and avoid a fire lane. A city alderman also wrote a letter in opposition to the permit based on safety concerns.

Board members told Crabtree city regulations are a separate issue from the board’s decision.

“They understand the risks they’re taking if they want to proceed,” said Jeff Mitchell, board member and Fayetteville attorney.

Mitchell warned Smith he has “formidable opposition” ahead of him from the city.

“There may be a real log in the road for you,” he said.

Parminder Singh’s location for Liquor Haven at 1200 S.E. 14th St., Suite 2, in Bentonville runs up against a city ordinance requiring outlets selling alcohol within 500 feet of a city-owned park or trail obtain a conditional use permit. The location is across Southeast 14th Street from the South Bentonville Trail.

Bentonville officials wrote letters to the board addressing the issue. Charles Singleton, Singh’s lawyer, noted he believes the city will be the largest obstacle to the liquor store opening.

Singh and her sister-in-law, Rita Bajwa, both received permits in Bentonville during the three-day proceedings. Through their attorney, they both said they moved to Benton County for the sole purpose of meeting residency requirements to open a liquor store. The live in the basement of a single-family home in Rogers owned by Manjit Singh.

Bajwa previously lived in Fort Smith with her husband, who owns a liquor store there. Parminder Singh said she moved to Benton County from Connecticut.

Alcohol agency enforcement agents said when they visited the home, a woman who answered the door said the two women didn’t live there. Manjit Singh said the woman was his mother, who had just returned from India and didn’t understand the agents’ questions.