Alcohol Control Commission hearings set for underage alcohol sales

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Two restaurants and a downtown Rome cigar bar will find out Monday what penalty they might receive after an employee at each place was cited for selling alcohol to an underage person.

The Rome Alcohol Control Commission is scheduled to hold the hearings during its regular meeting Monday, which will begin at 5 p.m. in the City Commission chambers at City Hall, 601 Broad St.

Click here to see the agenda.

Representatives from La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant, 413 Turner McCall Blvd.; Pizza Hut, 1015 Martha Berry Blvd.; and Old Havana Cigar Co., 327 Broad St., are expected to be at the meeting after their employees were cited for selling a beer to an underage informant.

The violations allegedly occurred during a March 4 sting operation conducted by the Georgia Department of Revenue, with assistance from Rome police investigators.

The ACC, which is composed of both city commissioners and citizen volunteers, could hear reports from the law enforcement agencies involved as well as testimony from each business’s representatives or employees cited.

The ACC then has the power to suggest imposing a monetary penalty, or suspension or revocation of the business’s alcohol license, which would then be decided by the full City Commission at its meeting Monday, April 27.

An establishment that violates an alcohol ordinance could face a fine of up to $2,000 under a city ordinance.

The ACC can also choose to give a verbal warning or take no action against an establishment that sells alcohol to anyone younger than 21.

According to Rome police reports, officers checked on 44 establishments inside the city limits during the sting, with the three named businesses the only ones where an employee sold the informant a beer.

The employee at Pizza Hut allegedly asked for identification, according to the report, but when the informant said he did not have it, the employee told him “that she would not tell if he wouldn’t” and brought him a beer.

The cited employees at La Parrilla and Old Havana did not ask for ID before selling the informant a beer, according to the report.

Businesses that sell alcohol are checked by state and local agencies periodically to ensure they are abiding by state and local laws.

In other business, the ACC is scheduled to decide on issuing a new beer package license at 1 Stop Shop 4 All, 1433 N. Broad St., as well as a new beer pouring license at Goats General Store, 222 Broad St.

Source: Rome News

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