Rebuilding business denied alcohol permit
PASCAGOULA -- The Pascagoula City Council on
Tuesday denied a local business owner permission
to sell alcohol.
The owner of the Bull's Eye, a dart and billiards
club on Ingalls Avenue, had spent more than a
year rebuilding after Katrina. But a Pascagoula
alcohol zoning ordinance enacted in August 2006
makes it unlawful for a business to sell alcohol
within 400 feet of a church.
"We put everything we had into this place
because the city encouraged all of the small businesses
to rebuild and reopen after the storm," said
owner Dustin Johnson.
Council members said they had no problem with
the dart and billiards tournaments at the Bull's
Eye, but the business cannot serve beer because
of its proximity to a church.
Johnson told council members there are plenty
of businesses that sell alcohol around churches.
The council said the restrictions do not apply
to businesses licensed to serve alcohol before
a church, school, or park was built.
"I am very taken back about the decision
tonight. I cannot relocate because I have a history
of four generations of family around this business
and we are going to lose our members now that
we cannot serve beer," said Johnson.
Other action items at the meeting included the
approval of a resolution for the city to implement
a post-hurricane comprehensive plan. The demolition
of the Live Oak apartment complex, which was tabled
from two previous council meetings, also was approved.
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