No one gets liquor license

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-A divided Town council Monday did not elect to award the last available retail liquor license, deciding to close the matter for the time being. Now the license, which allows an establishment to operate as a bar and package store, cannot be issued unless the council decides to restart a subjective process notorious for its emotional toll on applicants and elected officials alike.

This was the second time the six applicants – Creekside Market, Center for the Arts, Wyoming Inn, Chester Copperpots, Vom Fass, and partners Betsy Campbell and Samantha Danahy – had gone in front of the Town since late May, when another applicant, the Pink Garter Theatre, was awarded one of two licenses.

At Monday’s meeting, Town councilors and Mayor Mark Barron did not agree on a single applicant, though most of them said they supported finding a solution for the Center for the Arts, which relies on borrowed catering permits.

“If I had to make a decision today, I would support the Center for the Arts,” said council member Mark Obringer. Others, including council member Melissa Turley, said they would prefer taking a different avenue, like petitioning the state legislature for a special permit for the Center so the retail liquor license could go to a private business.

Center for the Arts director Clare Payne Simmons campaigned for a license by pointing out that the Center draws tens of thousands of people to downtown Jackson, and is a boon to nearby restaurants on show nights.
“I recognize the benefit” of a liquor license at the Center, Turley said. “I also see the value in generating new revenue.”

Mayor Mark Barron reiterated his support for a new business he said has already made a splash in Jackson.

“I started off as a supporter of Vom Fass and I haven’t waivered from that,” Barron said, referring to a store that sells gourmet condiments and would use the license to add some liqueurs. “Whether you like that store or not, customers seem to like it.”

Apparently addressing the claim by some that the town’s economy is ruled by older generations the mayor added, “I don’t look at this as age discrimination.”
There was one applicant that may have had enough support from the council to have won a retail liquor license. But the partners behind Chester Copperpots, an idea for a new bar and restaurant, had applied using the address for another restaurant one  currently owns. Thai Me Up owner Jeremy Tofte said he and partner Scott Barrie intended to “park” the license at 75 E. Pearl until they signed a lease at 120 W. Pearl. The bar and restaurant would be a multi-level locale with a floor devoted to games for kids.

“We can’t try to satisfy 500 people a night out of a little cage,” Tofte said, referring to rules about pouring areas imposed by other liquor licenses that are easier to come by.

Speaking with detectable emotion in his voice, Barrie told the council they had his “word” that the license would not be used at Thai Me Up but for the new bar and grill. “I want to keep feeding my kids, and keep a roof over my head,” he said.“Our options are diminishing.”

Tofte said: “We really want to make town better.”
But even with a letter of intent for the new lease, which Tofte said he has obtained, the address on an application cannot be changed mid-process, administrators said. Chester Copperpots, and whoever else has the stomach to repeat the process, would have to reapply another time. “The council has no obligation to award you a transfer,” Barron told the Chester Copperpots partners, explaining why it wasn’t prudent to issue a liquor license to a different address. “There may be different times. This has nothing to do with your application.” JHW
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