The merchants and friends of Main Street and the Southside of Chattanooga are preparing for the block party “Main X24” that will be held Saturday, Dec. 1. This is the fourth year for the event that is a round-the-clock festival celebrating the area. Organizers for several of the special events came to the City Beer Board meeting Thursday morning seeking a license to sell beer.
A fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity is a chili cook-off in the parking lot of OCI at 326 Main St. from noon-4 p.m. Donna Williams, director for Habitat, told the board members that the group has hired a licensed bartender and that people will be carded before they are allowed to buy beer. It was agreed that wrist bands will be used for identifying patrons who are the legal age for consumption of alcohol. She said that last year this benefit raised $3,500-$4,500 for Habitat for Humanity. The vote was unanimous to approve the special event permit to allow the sale of beer.
Greenspaces at 63 Main St. will have large screen TVs for watching SEC football inside their building from 4-8 p.m. that Saturday. Director of Development Tina Shaw Cox said they expect to have around 50 people coming and going at any one time. Board member Andre Harriman suggested using a clicker at the door to maintain the occupancy limit, and Keith Reisman, assistant city attorney, concurred, saying that is actually a requirement. Their plan to restrict beer from minors is to sell tickets and issue wrist bands. A license was granted for this occasion.
A third beer license was given to Jonathan Susman for the “Big Wheel Championship” to be held at 427 E. Main St. in the parking lot of Architectural Surfaces from noon-4 p.m. He explained there will be relay races on adult-sized big wheel trikes. Mr. Harriman interjected with a laugh, “Will people be allowed to drive under the influence?”
Mr. Susman told the board that he is marketing director for Chattanooga Presents! and so he knows the requirements to sell alcohol. He told board members he is organizing this event on his own as a benefit for the Children’s Advocacy Center. He plans on using the same people and procedures that Chattanooga Presents! does for beer sales, which is selling tickets and issuing wrist bands.
Officer John Collins suggested that all venues using wrist bands coordinate their efforts and use the same color bands. The entire event will be using off-duty police officers for security.
Special events do not currently require health, electrical and fire inspections, said attorney Reisman, but the city is concerned about special events that are held inside. The city is now in the process of updating the codes. This became an issue apparently when Christy Burns on behalf of the Folk School of Chattanooga requested a permit to sell beer at a party in the building at 1800 Rossville Blvd. from 10 a.m.-3 a.m., the biggest event of the festival and the one open the latest. The organizers plan on having musicians and daytime activities for children. All events will be free until 11 p.m. when admission will be charged for the “after party”. Officials said 400 people are expected throughout the day.
Concerns about the fire codes emerged about the building for several reasons. It is currently under construction, only half being finished. The other half is to be divided into smaller sections and is not complete at this time. The unease about allowing an assembly in a building where the actual capacity was unknown by Ms. Burns, combined with the fact that it is not known if adequate exits exist in the event of a fire, led the board to deny sales of alcohol at the event that will be held there on Dec. 1. Application for this location had also been made for a beer license to be used December, 6 and Dec. 29. All requests were denied.
Mohamed Saleh, who has recently opened “One Stop Shop” at 1221 Grove St., came before the beer board to obtain a license to sell beer in addition to groceries. Board members Karl Epperson and Mr. Harriman both thanked him for opening a grocery store in what has been a "food desert" in the Westside community. Mr. Epperson said he had noticed young men hanging around the outside of the building and suggested that be “nipped in the bud”. Mr. Saleh responded that he is new to the community and doesn’t want to start problems with his customers, but will tell loiters to leave or he will call 911. Officer John Collins told him that is not an emergency, and told him to call the police department, not 911. He has 16 cameras inside the store and plans on adding others on the outside. He was unanimously given the permit.
McHale’s Brew house and Pub located at 724 Ashland Terrace has been at that location for two years, selling beer that is brewed in house. A category change request was made to the beer board to allow the business to distribute beer made there to other businesses in addition to serving it at their own pub. Their pale ale was voted Best at the Chattanooga Market, said owner Sidney Hale. He also told the board members that they allow no trouble makers, and will cut people off if needed and call taxis for them. Their application was granted.
A new license was also given to Red Food and Fuel at 2601 Harrison Pike and Rica’s Food Mart at 804 Broad St. for carry-out beer sales.
As the Wrecker Board, one business was reprimanded for not being insured for three months in 2012 and for operating with expired license tags. Wes Bailey of Champion Towing admitted to the lapse in coverage that is required to operate a towing business. He explained that one of his two trucks had been out of service when the tag expired, and he had neglected to renew it. He also told the board that he had been in the process of getting bids to change the insurance carrier when Officer Collins cited him.
Officer Collins testified that within 30 minutes of the citation he was notified that insurance coverage had been obtained. However, it remained that the business had no coverage from Aug. 16 through Nov. 5, which is a violation of the condition required for owning a wrecker license. The board was also told that a judge had dismissed the case when it was brought before him since Mr. Bailey had shown proof that new licenses had been obtained for the vehicles. Punishment given by the board was an official letter of reprimand and a written warning in his file about the offenses.
Mr. Bailey then requested a new license to operate because the business had changed locations. This was granted along with the warning to make sure that he posts licenses and insurance policies in a prominent location in order to know just when they need to be renewed.