ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 22, 1996 TAG: 9611220070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
The Bridge Club on Smith Mountain Lake will no longer be able to sell beer, wine or mixed drinks.
The state Alcohol and Beverage Control Board said Thursday it had revoked the license of the Bedford County club, saying it was a noisy and disorderly establishment.
Bobby McDonald, owner of the club near Hales Ford Bridge, said Thursday he knew of the ruling but would not comment about the revocation or his plans for the club. He has 10 days to appeal the decision of hearing officer Diane Abato.
Residents' complaints about noise led to an ABC investigation. Bedford County sheriff's deputies also were called to the club numerous times between May 1 and June 29, the night officers arrested 30 people inside and outside the club. The charges included being drunk in public, urinating in public, disorderly conduct and drug possession.
In mid-September, Abato heard evidence on five charges against the club. She threw out one charge but accepted the other four.
ABC Special Agent Jeff Stanley testified at the September hearings that the owners were not the legitimate, licensed owners of the club because McDonald had allowed a potential buyer to run the club for about six weeks during the summer, when many of the complaints were made. Abato threw out that charge because the potential buyer never bought the club.
However, she ruled that charges of failing to keep complete and accurate records, violating the ABC Act and laws of peace and good order, maintaining a noisy and disorderly establishment, and operating an establishment that has an adverse effect on the quiet and tranquility of the residents were substantiated.
"The licensee has a history of disturbing the neighbors," Abato said in her ruling, adding that one of three charges would be grounds for the ABC to revoke a license.
During the September hearing, residents testified they couldn't sleep because of noise from the club. David Hut, who testified he had called police about 30 times in the last two years, said Thursday he is happy with the decision. People on the lake, he said, do not need the loud noise and rowdiness.
The ABC Board fined The Bridge Club's owners - McDonald, his wife, Lydia, and Michael Brown - 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 ban on selling or drinking alcoholic beverages on the club's deck when amplified music is played outside. The owners paid the fines.
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