The Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board met on Thursday morning for a regularly scheduled meeting. The board, however was unable to hear the applications for new beer licenses because of the lack of a quorum. The nine-member board requires a quorum of five members to vote.
Vice Chairman of the board Vince Butler apologized to the applicants who will have to return to the next beer board meeting on Jan. 19, at 9 a.m. to obtain beer permits for their businesses. Prior to the meeting, said Mr. Butler, the board received responses from five members confirming that they would be present. On Thursday, two members were out of town, two were sick and another board member has resigned resulting in just four board members at the meeting.
Beer Board meetings are held twice a month when owners of bars and restaurants, and organizers of special events such as fundraisers, are evaluated by the board members to get a permit that will allow beer to be sold or served at their establishments. Some of the businesses and events rely on the availability of beer which is dependent on obtaining a beer permit, so they lose anticipated business if a license is not given.
The beer board also is the body authorized to suspend and revoke beer permits due to violations of the Chattanooga beer code at bars and restaurants. This includes practices such as overserving, serving to minors and failure to ensure the safety of customers from incidents such as fights and disorders, among other things.
On Thursday morning three applications were on the agenda, and all had to be pushed to the Jan. 19 meeting. Quik Trip, a national travel center and convenience store chain based in Tulsa, Okla., is opening its first store in Tennessee at 312 Browns Ferry Road in Chattanooga. The location is in Lookout Valley off I-24 and Brown’s Ferry Road.
The out-of-town owner will have to be represented by the store’s manager at the next board meeting versus making another trip to Chattanooga for the hearing. Since no license has been approved yet, the convenience store will have to operate without selling carry-out beer if it is open before the next beer board meeting.
Another business scheduled for a beer license application on Thursday was Go Dog Chattanooga, a new pet hospitality facility on the Southside at 255 W. 20th St. Services it offers includes day care, boarding, training and grooming. It will also have a large dog park where dogs are allowed off-leash, and which has an area for food trucks, a bar and music where people can be entertained watching their dogs. Beer will be unavailable at the bar until the owners return to another beer board meeting on Jan. 19 to again apply for a beer permit.
Representatives for Doubletree by Hilton at 2232 Center Street, in the Hamilton Place area near I-75, will also have to return to the next meeting to apply for a consumer beer license for the hotel.
Also on the agenda were updates to the violation response of The Blue Light bar at Station Street and of The Leapin’ Leprechaun at 101 Market St. A new law known as Dallas’s Law, meant to strengthen training requirements for security guards, will be explained. This state law went into effect Jan 1, 2023.