The Blue Light bar on Station Street on Thursday morning was penalized by the Chattanooga Beer Board for violating the mayor's executive order directing bar along the street close by 1 a.m.
The suspension came after the bar had been penalized for a half dozen other violations since November 2021. Those were for issues including employees consuming alcohol on the premises, selling alcohol off the premise two times, operating a disorderly place three times, and failing to report a disorder to the Chattanooga police twice Those penalties included suspensions, letters of reprimand and monetary civil fines in lieu of suspension. The beer license was also revoked in October 2021 but the revocation was appealed.
The newest infraction being considered on Thursday was for not conforming to an executive order from Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly meant to reduce violence and for the sake of public safety. After this latest violation, another is scheduled to be heard at the Beer Board in June.
A meeting to announce and explain the executive order was held on April 20 with bar owners who would be affected. The curfew was to extend for 15 days with an option of renewal. Chris Anderson, a senior advisor to Mayor Kelly, conducted the meeting with business owners and told the Beer Board members that the information given at the meeting was “crystal clear.”
That order stated that all businesses on Station Street and all businesses selling alcohol there must have their last call by 12:30 a.m. and be closed by 1 a.m. starting on April 21. In the mayor’s order, the bars on that street were listed by name, including the Blue Light. Brian Joyce, one of the owners of that bar, was the representative at that meeting.
That same night, on a Thursday, the Blue Light had scheduled a private special spring event for Bryan College originally contracted to begin at 11:30 ending at 3 a.m. on April 21. Mr. Joyce said he had been told by the organizer that people were expected to actually leave around 1 a.m. However at 1:03 a.m. the Chattanooga Police received an anonymous call from a cell phone saying the Blue Light was still open. The police, led by Officer Jeff Buchner arrived by 1:15 and found a security guard in a chair at the entrance and music coming from inside. When the bar manager was notified that the business should have been closed, she said they had a contract with the school before that order. Officer Buckner informed her that the executive order took precedence. She sent the general manager out, who called Mr. Joyce, who was not there that night. Then the bar was shut down without incidence and with an orderly dispersal. Video from Officer Buckner’s body camera showed people leaving until 1:26. That was clearly after the curfew of 1 a.m., said Assistant City Attorney David Schmidt.
Mr. Joyce testified that the contract with Bryan College included conditions that no alcohol would be served and that all bottles and taps were removed and put into a storage room. He said no alcohol was served that night and he interpreted the mayor’s curfew to mean if alcohol was actively being served on a specific night or at a specific event, versus if the business had a beer and liquor license and customarily served alcohol. He said he believed he was in compliance with the order. He said despite being at the meeting that morning, which named his bar as being included in the curfew, it did not occur to him to get clarification from Mr. Anderson about the Bryan College event scheduled for that night. Mr. Anderson told the board that information given at the meeting that day would have been tough to misunderstand.
Board Member Ron Smith made a motion to sustain the violation for hours regulated due to the mayor’s emergency order. Board Member Dan Mayfield said he recognized the ambiguity in the language and especially because no alcohol was being served that night, leaving him undecided. And Vice Chairman Vince Butler said he believed it was clear that all businesses on the street had to shut down by 1 a.m. despite what they were doing and that the differences in interpretation could be debated by the lawyers.
The motion to sustain the violation passed unanimously. The motion for a penalty of suspending the beer license for 14 days failed, as did another to suspend it for 30 days, and another motion for a seven-day suspension. Dan Mayfield then made a motion for a three-day suspension that passed unanimously. The suspension will begin on May 18.