|
|
|
|
THE MIFFLIN
COMPACT July 7, 2006 According
to Section 4301.1 of the Ohio Administrative Code, the Division of Liquor
Control, of the Ohio Department of Commerce is responsible for all licensure of
liquor establishments in the state. Statutes,
rules, and legal cases in determining whether to overrule or sustain an
objection to the issuance of a liquor license also guide the above stated
division. Moreover, the citizens of
a county, have the right to object to the issuance of new liquor permits to
specific commercial establishments. Pertaining to liquor permit number
3629045 to the applicant Threesome Entertainment, the members of the Richland
Community Family Coalition have united together and vigorously object to the
issuance of the liquor license. With the safety and
welfare of the citizens of Mifflin Township and Richland County being the
primary concern, and having the best interests of the community at heart, the
coalition provides testimony on the harmful and detrimental effects on the
community should such a license be issued. Evidence as to why this liquor license should be denied is based on the
following conditions: The
applicant has an unfavorable enforcement record and operates in disregard
towards laws, regulations and local ordinances. The applicant
opened its business May 19, 2005 without first obtaining the issuance of an
occupancy permit as required by the Richland County Building Department.
The occupancy permit was issued June 2, 2005 (see exhibit #2). The applicant
was found to be in violation of the following township zoning ordinances: did
not meet the proper isolation distance to a residence (no less than 500’) nor
the proper isolation distance to the right of way (no less than 200’), Mifflin
Township Zoning Resolution, Section 405(8)(B)(1)(4).
Furthermore, the applicant filed a civil lawsuit against Mifflin Township
(case 1:05CV0116, see exhibit #3), costing Mifflin Township $25,000 in court
fees in order to secure its establishment at the 1901 Ashland Road address. The applicant
has allowed open containers on and inside its premises on a regular basis.
According to incident 05-5010 of the Richland County Sheriff’s
Department, officers observed that there were alcoholic beverages on the
counter, in a cooler behind the counter, and empty beer bottles inside a trash
can. Suspect #2 advised that the
customers brought their own alcohol into the business.
(See exhibit #4) This is in
violation of Section 4301.62 (B)(3) of the Ohio Revised Code.
Video footage of open container violations were submitted to the
Sheriff’s Department on multiple occasions. Second,
the location of the establishment would substantially and adversely interfere
with the public decency, sobriety, peace, and good order of the neighborhood. According to
statistics provided by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, at the site
of the applicant’s establishment, the following incidents have been reported:
three thefts , eight public indecencies,
seven assaults, two drug-trafficking incidents, two public intoxications, one
criminal damaging, one telecommunication harassment, one menacing and three open
containers. Of particular note, a
dancer who was employed at the applicant’s establishment was arrested on
September 15, 2005, for dealing heroin inside the club, in the parking lot of
the club, and also at another site (see exhibit #6). It is
documented fact that Richland County has the largest population of sex offenders
per capita in the state for the years 2004 and 2005 (see exhibit #7).
Furthermore, according to crime maps, domestic violence appears to be at
its highest along the State Route 42 corridor in Madison and Mifflin Townships
(see exhibit #8). The issuance of
another liquor license to a sexually-oriented business would not be for the
“common good” of the community. According to a
report released by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, crime in the
county decreased in year 2005 compared to year 2004 by 1.05%.
On the contrary, Mifflin Township had the largest increase in crime of
any township in the county with a 34% increase (see exhibit #9).
The applicant’s establishment opened on May 19, 2005 and is located in
Mifflin Township. According to an
article published by the Mansfield New Journal on February 16, 2006, Sheriff
Sheldon stated that his department may have to have two deputies to a car
because of rising maintenance and fuel cost combined with a limited budget (see
exhibit #9). Issuing a liquor license to a sexually-oriented business, which is
known and documented to have increased crime affiliated with it will further
jeopardize the safety of the patrons inside the establishment and of the
residential neighborhood and be a recipe for calamity.
The one time
the applicant’s establishment was legally allowed to have alcohol when
it was issued a temporary liquor license, two altercations erupted on the
property the same night on August 11, 2005. In the two altercations, both
involved patrons coming from the establishment and engaging with picketers in
the state right of way. Two
assaults and one public intoxication occurred that night.
Most recently, on June 16, 2006, a patron struck a picketer with a
baseball bat at the establishment. The
patron fled in his automobile but was apprehended by Sheriff’s deputies and
arrested for assault and open container (see exhibit #11). That same night, a dancer was also arrested for assaulting
another dancer inside the club. Lastly,
saturation in the neighborhood of liquor
establishments would be detrimental and substantially interfere with the morals,
safety, and welfare of the public. The
establishment is adjacent to a confluence of two different county roads and one
state route; there are six different lanes of traffic with two of the
intersections having inferior designs of 45degree angles.
The property of the applicant was originally a part of the residential
Clearview Allotment. Already two
liquor establishments are present within this three hundred foot stretch.
It is the opinion of this coalition that adding an additional liquor
establishment to this dangerous stretch would inflame an already hazardous
traffic design. This coalition
believes that this intersection is not designed to handle the present flow of
traffic much less the greater probability of alcohol on the roadway.
According to a
traffic study conducted by the Richland County Regional Planning Commission on
June 8, 2006, 33-39 automobile accidents have occurred in this area of interest
from mile posts 15 to 16 between the time period of January 2003 to June 2006
(see exhibit #13). On June 8th,
a total of 25,740 motorists used this intersection in a twenty-four hour period.
With a heavy traffic flow, along with the fact that there are
neighborhood pedestrians, and a family coalition that has had picketers onsite
at the establishment on the right of way from the early evening to early morning
hours for four hundred days and counting, tragedy could likely result with the
issuance of a new liquor permit. According to
the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Mansfield Post 70, Mifflin Township has the most
fatal traffic crashes of any township inside Richland County from 2000-2005 with
six (6) fatalities. Furthermore, based on the above premises, the
Richland Community Family Coalition strongly advises that any issuance of a
liquor permit to Threesome Entertainment be denied, Sincerely, The Richland Community Family Coalition Steering
Committee |