STREET RD. BAR & GRILLE, INC. v. PLCB
| Decision Date | 20 June 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 253 MAP 2003.,253 MAP 2003. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
| Parties | STREET ROAD BAR & GRILLE, INC., Appellee, v. PENNSYLVANIA LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD, Appellant. |
Faith Smith Diehl, Esq., David Brian Schlechter, Esq., Harrisburg, for Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
Barry Goldstein, Esq., Douglas Maloney, Esq., Langhorne, for Street Road Bar & Grille, Inc.
BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, NIGRO, SAYLOR, EAKIN and BAER, JJ.
This appeal presents two questions: (1) which party—the liquor license applicant or the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board ("the Board")—bears the burden of proof concerning an applicants "good repute" for purposes of issuing or transferring a license; and (2) whether, in deciding the question of good repute, the Board may consider an applicants (a) past history of citations under the Liquor Code1 and (b) past criminal misdemeanor convictions.2 In sustaining the Board's denial of the request by appellee, Street Road Bar & Grille, Inc., for a person-to-person transfer of a liquor license, the trial court held that the Board did not err in finding that appellee's officers were not persons of good repute under the Liquor Code, given their prior convictions and extensive citation history. A divided Commonwealth Court panel reversed, holding that the Board had the burden of establishing a lack of good repute, that an applicant's criminal and citation history are irrelevant to a determination of good repute, and that the Board had failed to produce relevant evidence to prove lack of good repute. For the following reasons, we find that the liquor license applicant bears the burden of proof concerning good repute and that the Board and the trial court properly determined that citation history and prior misdemeanor convictions are relevant to the question of good repute. Accordingly, we reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court.
William L. Golden, III, and Thomas Golden are brothers who own and operate appellee bar and restaurant, which is located in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. William is listed as president, director and stockholder, while Thomas is listed as the secretary/treasurer, director, stockholder and manager. At the time of the hearing below, William had been involved in the restaurant, bar and liquor business for approximately twenty-four years and had been approved for twelve liquor licenses. Thomas had been in the bar and restaurant business for approximately seventeen years and had been approved for four or five liquor licenses.
On January 19, 2001, appellee applied to the Board for a person-to-person transfer of a liquor license. Pursuant to its authority under Section 464 of the Liquor Code, the Boards Bureau of Licensing ultimately scheduled a hearing with respect to objections it had regarding the application including, inter alia, whether the Goldens were responsible and reputable individuals as required under Section 404 of the Liquor Code in light of citations issued to other licensed establishments that they had owned or operated, and in light of their history of misdemeanor convictions.3 Section 404 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
Upon receipt of the application and the proper fees, and upon being satisfied of the truth of the statements in the application that the applicant is the only person in any manner pecuniarily interested in the business so asked to be licensed and that no other person will be in any manner pecuniarily interested therein during the continuance of the license, except as hereinafter permitted, and that the applicant is a person of good repute, that the premises applied for meet all the requirements of this act and the regulations of the board, that the applicant seeks a license for a hotel, restaurant or club, as defined in this act, and that the issuance of such license is not prohibited by any of the provisions of this act, the board shall, in the case of a hotel or restaurant, grant and issue to the applicant a liquor license, and in the case of a club may, in its discretion, issue or refuse a license: [Provided, however, that, inter alia,] the board shall have the discretion to refuse a license to any person or to any corporation, partnership or association if such person, or any officer or director of such corporation, or any member or partner of such partnership or association shall have been convicted or found guilty of a felony within a period of five years immediately preceding the date of application for the said license.
The evidence at the hearing established that, over the years, licensed establishments in which the Goldens were involved had been cited 21 times for various violations of the Liquor Code, including citations for sales to minors; loud noise/loudspeaker violations; bounced check charges; providing false information on a Sunday Sales Permit application; failing to maintain complete business operating records; discounting the price of alcohol; and permitting minors to frequent the premises. The 21 citations resulted in over $8,000 in civil penalties, seven license suspensions, and the revocation of a Sunday Sales Permit. The Goldens had also been principals in other licensed establishments which had not been cited for Liquor Code violations. The evidence also established that both Goldens had misdemeanor criminal records. William was convicted of theft in 1976, and simple assault, a second-degree misdemeanor, in 1989. In 1990, Thomas was convicted of driving under the influence, a second-degree misdemeanor. In addition, in 1996, both William and Thomas were convicted of gambling and conspiracy arising from the use of video slot or poker machines at one of their licensed establishments, Skinny Dugan's, Inc. The gambling convictions were graded as first-degree misdemeanors.
Following the hearing, the Board denied appellees transfer application, finding that the Goldens were not "persons of good repute" for purposes of Section 404. The Board later filed a 30-page opinion in support of its conclusion. The Board summarized in great detail its prior history and familiarity with the Goldens involving their other liquor licenses and prior citations. The Board also noted the Goldens' prior convictions. In the Boards view, there was "no question" that, in the context of a liquor license transfer, an applicants prior operational history, including a history of Liquor Code violations and citations, is relevant to the question of good repute. The Board noted that:
For these unlawful acts, the Goldens' licenses have incurred various penalties. While William Golden, III correctly testified that no license has ever been revoked, the licenses had received over $8,000.00 in fines, seven license suspensions, and the revocation of a Sunday Sales Permit. Further, one license was warned not once, but twice, to improve its operation or risk loss of its license in a nuisance bar action. In all but two of the citations, the charges were not even contested, and William Golden's attitude towards these citations at the administrative hearing held in this case appeared to be unapologetic; he was either "not present" when the violations occurred, or felt that some of the charges resulted from downturns in business or were not worth fighting. He offered no explanation at all about how or why the many sales to minors occurred, other than his opinion that those types of charges cannot ever be won if contested. The Board finds this lack of acknowledgment of his responsibility to abide by the liquor laws in the past to be indicative of future disregard of those same laws.Opinion, 24-25.
The Board next noted that it properly considered the Goldens' misdemeanor convictions in making its overall assessment of good repute. The Board was particularly concerned with the fact that both brothers had multiple criminal convictions, and that their latest convictions for gambling and conspiracy arose from events that occurred on the very premises of licensed establishments in which they were involved as principals. The Board then concluded as follows:
Adding the Goldens' prior convictions to the evidence of multiple and in many cases, very serious, citations that have accumulated at their other licensed premises over the last decade or so, the Board simply is not satisfied that the Goldens, and thus Applicant, are persons of good repute, as required by section 404 of the Liquor Code. They have demonstrated a disregard of both the liquor laws and the criminal laws of the Commonwealth, as evidenced by repeated citations for sales to minors, permitting minors to frequent, bounced checks, falsification of an application, and other unlawful acts, and by their past criminal convictions, especially using three of their licensed establishments as gambling venues. Thus, the Boards inability to find the Goldens to be persons of good repute precludes the approval of this application.
Appellee appealed to the trial court. Following a de novo hearing, the trial court affirmed, citing with approval to the Boards analysis. The court noted the Goldens' extensive operational history with the Board and their "sizeable citation history." In light of that citation history, the court reasoned that the Goldens had failed to demonstrate past compliance with the Liquor Code. The court also agreed with the Board that the Goldens' previous convictions, though misdemeanors, were relevant to the question of good repute. Like the Board, the trial court was particularly concerned with the convictions for gambling and conspiracy. In the trial courts view, the Board did not err in finding itself unsatisfied that the Goldens were persons of good repute, given their citation history and prior convictions. Trial court op. at 2-4.
Appellee next appealed to the Commonwealth Court, raising two issues. First, appellee raised a sufficiency claim, arguing that the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Popowsky v. Pa Public Utility Com'n
...points. Since the issues so posed are questions of law, this Court's review is plenary. Street Road Bar & Grille, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Bd., 583 Pa. 72, 876 A.2d 346, 352 (2005). The core of the dispute centers on the meaning of Section 1501 of the Code, and the congruence of ......
-
In re Nomination Petition of Carroll
...Koken v. Reliance Ins. Co., 893 A.2d 70, 81 (2006), quoting 1 Pa.C.S. § 1922(1); see also Street Road Bar & Grille, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Bd., 583 Pa. 72, 876 A.2d 346, 353 (2005). As part of its statement of "purpose" in Section 1101.1, the General Assembly included the follo......
-
A. Scott Enters., Inc. v. City of Allentown
...1 Pa.C.S.A. § 1922(1) ; Koken v. Reliance Ins. Co., 586 Pa. 269, 893 A.2d 70, 81 (2006) ; Street Road Bar & Grille, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Bd., 583 Pa. 72, 876 A.2d 346, 353 (2005). The text of section 3935 authorizes awards of interest penalties and attorneys' fees if the gove......
-
Koken v. Reliance Ins. Co.
...that is absurd, impossible of execution or unreasonable." 1 Pa. C.S. § 1922(1); see also Street Road Bar & Grille, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Bd., 583 Pa. 72, 876 A.2d 346, 353 (2005). Section 221.40(a) plainly provides that the "filing of the [POC] shall operate as a release of th......