ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
An attorney for a Smith Mountain Lake nightclub has asked a Virginia Alcoholic and Beverage Control Board hearing officer to be lenient on the business, which has been penalized by the board several times.
Louis Harrison said Thursday he realizes The Bridge Club has problems but owner Bobby McDonald has been trying to work them out.
"I know there will be a fine and suspension, but I ask you to give us credit for what we have accomplished," Harrison pleaded with hearing officer Diane Abato.
Harrison said the most serious problem at the club near Hales Ford Bridge is noise, but "we are satisfied that we can't control that, so we won't have outdoor amplification. We don't want [residents near the club] disturbed again."
Abato has 10 days to make a decision on charges that included failure to keep complete and accurate records, disturbing the peace, maintaining a noisy and disorderly establishment, and operating a business that lowers property values.
ABC Special Agent Jeff Stanley also testified that the owners were not the legitimate, licensed owners of the club, and Abato will have to make a decision on that charge. The owners, however, are listed as directors of That Crossing Inc., the club's parent company.
Seven Bedford County sheriff's deputies testified they were called to the club many times between May 1 and June 29, when officers arrested more than 60 people inside and outside the club. The charges included being drunk in public, urinating in public, disorderly conduct and drug possession.
Residents' complaints about noise led to an investigation by ABC agents and ended with the June 29 arrests.
McDonald, his wife, Lydia, and Michael Brown are owners of The Bridge Club, Harrison said. But he said McDonald was away from the club for about six weeks this summer after being stabbed there in late May.
While McDonald was away, another man managed it, Harrison said. McDonald returned to work and let the man go after discovering that the records had not been kept. He testified that the records disappeared with the man.
The Bridge Club's owners were fined twice this summer for selling alcohol to an intoxicated person and for maintaining a noisy and disorderly establishment. On the first charge, the penalty was a 15-day liquor license suspension or a $1,000 fine and seven-day suspension.
The second penalty was a seven-day suspension or a $1,000 fine and a restriction that bans selling or drinking alcohol on the club's deck when amplified music is played outside.
After the hearing, Harrison said the club accepted the previous rulings and paid the fines.
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