A usually routine approval for renewals of privilege licenses to sell beer and wine raised a red flag at today's City Council work session, after Councilman Steve Schewel said that one applicant's owner has been cited for noncompliance with ABC regulations multiple times.
"We ought to be questioning that," Schewel said.
The comment met general agreement, leading to a consensus that the council withhold approval for the Beaver Pond Family Fare at Club Boulevard and Roxboro Street when the license applications come up at the May 21 regular business meeting. The Beaver Pond Family Fare is owned by M.M. Fowler Inc., whose stores, Schewel said, have been found noncompliant six times in the past year.
"When are we going to start sending a new message, an official message, that you can't regularly abuse your ABC license and there are no consequences?" Schewel said.
In the meantime, council members are open to hearing from M.M. Fowler and from the general public on the 303 other establishments making application.
A link to the list is below.
