The City Liquor Board yesterday ordered a Charles Village tavern to enter into mediation with protesting neighbors and dismissed two other license protests for technical reasons as it continues its annual review of protested licenses.
Rootie Kazootie’s Sports Bar, 2701 N. Charles Street was the subject of the first protest. Attorney John Spurrier, representing Charles Village residents, played a videotape for the board, which portrayed college-aged kids urinating on the sidewalks and church grounds after leaving the bar. The six witnesses he called forward complained of noise, vomit, urine and destruction of property late at night in a largely single-family home community. Spurrier told the board that the “best we can do is get them out of the area quickly before they destroy the neighborhood.” Ronald Schwartz represented the defendant Vincent Arosemena. The board renewed the license, but ordered a mediation session between the community, the bar’s proprietors, the police commander of Northern District, and Nathan Irby, Jr., executive secretary of the liquor board.
Two of the three protests were dismissed on technical decisions. Canton residents’ protest against the Ocean View Inn on Fleet Street and its proprietors Kyung and Hyun Yhim brought forth a compendium of issues, including trash, rodent infestation, noise, and a vicious dog on the premises. In the past, the bar has attracted sailors into the residential area, but that issue had been apparently resolved before the hearing. Mitchell Gordon, counsel for Ocean View Inn, observed that the petition did not state a specific protest, it was “only a white piece of paper.” Chairman Leonard Skolnik agreed with Gordon. The case was dismissed, but not before Skolnik said to defense “you’ve been here so many we’ve almost become friends.” The bar is currently up for sale.
In his words, Gary Maslan, attorney for Pimlico Discount Liquors on Park Heights Avenue, “won another case by technicality.” He had called forth
George Collins, a community organizer and former journalist, as a witness for the defense. Collins stated that several addresses on the protest petition did not exist. One in particular, 3028 Belvedere Avenue, was in fact apart of the Pimlico race track. Another issue brought forward by Maslan was the lack of representation of the community at the Board hearing. Only Steven George, of Baltimore City Wide Coalition was at the hearing. George attempted to excuse the lack of attendance by pointing to the abrupt rescheduling of the hearing, to no avail. Chairman Skolnik dismissed the case.