Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504060068
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
In the past two weeks, they've cited 12 individuals with operating a business without a city license, in addition to selling alcohol without an Alcoholic Beverage Control Department permit.
Deputy Chief Jonny Butler said Wednesday the business license charge, a misdemeanor, is not only another way to ratchet up pressure on violators, it's easier to prove and prosecute and not as complicated to investigate as ABC violations. "But, we're going to try to do both," Butler added.
The commissioner of revenue, who is responsible for issuing business licenses in Radford, deputized all city police officers four years ago "in anticipation of something like this coming up," he said.
It did, at the March meeting of the Joint City-University Advisory Commission on Public Affairs, Radford's so-called "town-gown" commission. City Councilwoman Polly Corn, a commission member, reported complaints about large signs advertising a party in the Fairfax Street neighborhood and charging $5 a head.
But Butler, also a commission member, zeroed in on the gatherings, not the advertisements, as the real problem.
"They're illegal bars; they're nip joints," he told Corn.
Butler said the unlicensed bars rob sales from licensed drinking establishments.
Troy Etter, general manager at BT's on Tyler Avenue adjacent to the Radford University campus, conceded that such illegal party bars do sometimes cut into his legally-licensed beverage business, especially if they're nearby.
"They're competing for our business," he said. "They're doing it to make a profit."
But, at least for legal-age drinkers, Etter said, the thrill soon wears thin at many such events, which he described as self-limiting.
"You pay $2, and the beer gets warm," and eventually patrons gravitate back to the legitimate bars like his, he said.
"We're glad to see the police take care of it," he added.
Butler said his department's new enforcement tool has yet to see its first test in court. The first cases don't come up in Radford District Court until May 1.
He said those convicted of operating a business without a license face a fine of at least $50 but not more than $1,000 and up to six months in jail, or both.
by CNB