Tonya Hacker appeared before the Chattanooga Beer Board on Thursday for approval of a beer permit for Rhapsody Café which she and her husband plan to open next month. Everything was moving along smoothly until she mentioned that the restaurant was in the same space as the former Bushwood Restaurant.

A board member asked if Bushwood had surrendered the beer permit that they have for that location. Board Secretary Bertha Lawrence had no record of the permit being surrendered. Board Attorney Ken Fritz told Ms. Hacker there cannot be two permits issued for one location. The former tenant must be contacted and the permit must be forfeited before she can receive a permit for her restaurant.

Ms. Hacker told the board she and her husband saw that the former Bushwood Restaurant property was empty and inquired about leasing the spot. They met with the leasing agent and the Bushwood owner, Joe Dill, was at the meeting. Ms. Hacker said she bought all the restaurant equipment from Mr. Dill so it is apparent that he has quit the business.

After a brief recess, during which several calls were made in an unsuccessful attempt to contact Mr. Dill, the board voted to approve a beer permit for Rhapsody Café pending the surrender of Mr. Dill’s permit for Bushwood Restaurant. The board told Ms. Hacker she would be able to complete her transaction for a beer permit with the City Treasurer’s Office whenever Mr. Dill surrenders the permit for Bushwood and would not have to come before the board again.

The board heard a special event application request by Ashley Evans for The Aim Center. Again, the board had to take exception to the request.

Ms. Evans said a winter fundraiser for The AIM Center was to be held at the Loose Cannon Gallery at 1800 Rossville Ave. The board told Ms. Evans that the Loose Cannon already has a beer permit and it cannot grant two beer permits for the same location. The board told Ms. Evans her organization would be allowed to operate its event under the permit for the Loose Cannon.

The board told Ms. Evans she might have saved the $250 non-refundable application fee had the Loose Cannon told her they already had a license. The Loose Cannon may be trying to limit their liability by asking Ms. Evans to obtain her own permit, the board said. However, the ordinance will not allow two permits for one address.

The board passed the special event application for The AIM Center until their next meeting on January 8 to give Ms. Evans time to discuss the situation with the owners of the Loose Cannon.

After the Beer Board meeting, Ms. Evans discovered that Loose Cannon Gallery does not have a beer permit. Another business in the same building, with a different suite number, does have a beer permit but is not applicable in this situation. The AIM Center will have to have special event license and Ms. Evans will return to the Beer Board on Jan. 8 to request one.

Other applications for consumer and/or carryout beer permits were approved for:

Jose Jesus Muro, owner of Taco Roc, Inc., 6960 Lee Highway

Carl Taylor Cochran, owner of Beef O’Brady’s, 5958 Snow Hill Road

Hemlata B. Patel, owner of Super Tobacco Mart, 1003 Ashland Terrace

Dana Wilbourn
dbwilbourn@yahoo.com