G. Rapids weighs liquor license request

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GRAND RAPIDS – Council is slated on Monday to vote on bringing an additional liquor license into the
village.
The issue has raised concerns from one local businessman.
Village Administrator Chad Hoffman confirmed that area resident Glen Baron is seeking the license for a
new business venture on Front Street in the downtown.
Calls left with Baron seeking comment were not returned.
In a letter distributed to council, Dave LaRoe, owner of LaRoe’s Restaurant on Front Street, expressed
concerns about how another liquor license could change the landscape of the village.
"The license would start with Glen Baron but once in our village can be transferred and sold again
and again to any individual or group" with little oversight from council, LaRoe wrote.
"It is not the person to consider, but rather the issue," he wrote later.
According to the Ohio Division of Liquor Control’s database, restaurant/night club liquor licenses are
held by LaRoe’s, and by Fernando’s. Carry-out licenses are held by the Friendship Food Store and Out of
Hand. All of the businesses are located in the 24000 block of Front Street.
According to the Division of Liquor Control, liquor permits in a particular area or municipality are
determined by a quota based on the area’s population; Grand Rapids has a listed population of 980. When
a license permit is applied for, a notice is sent to the local city or village council and local police
department. The council, as well as public institutions near to where the license would be issued, are
given an opportunity to object, and a hearing may be held in that case. In the absence of a hearing, if
the permit is to be issued, it will be given out in 10 to 12 weeks.
In his letter to council, and in a subsequent interview with the Sentinel-Tribune, LaRoe said that if a
new license is issued to Baron, then the village would have no reason not to permit one to other
restaurants in Grand Rapids.
"There’s no way ethically" that they can say no to the other businesses, said LaRoe.
"I think that it would be wrong if they give to one and not the others."
He also said that once the license is issued, it could create a slippery slope.
"As he gets the license, all bets are off," he said, asserting that other licenses, such as one
permitting alcohol sales until 2:30 a.m., could be applied for. Currently, licenses issued in the
village only permit sales of alcohol until 1 a.m.
"So you’ve just got to be aware what it does to the community, as soon as you add that to it."

He also asserted that the issuance of an additional license would put the village "above and beyond
what the state recommends for the size of our town."
"Is it healthy for a village of 980 people to have" that number of liquor licenses, he asked.

Information from Michael Duchesne, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Commerce, indicated that the
village has a quota of one each of on-premises beer, wine, spiritous liquor, and combination permits.
Division of Liquor Control statistics indicate that those permits are held by LaRoe’s and Fernando’s.

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