Cape to look at regulation of after-hours night spots

The operator of the Taste after-hours club in Cape Girardeau defended his business Monday night after a handful of residents asked the Cape Girardeau City Council to shut down his popular gathering spot.

It has been five days since a 25-year-old Cape Girardeau man was shot to death outside the Taste at 402 Good Hope St. Patrick Buck opened the club in October, more than two years after the city took away its liquor license because of a history of incidents requiring the police to respond. The club, which no longer serves liquor, then was under different management.

After hearing four residents and Buck speak, Mayor Jay Knudtson said he was "really worried" about the issue and gave Buck a warning.

"You need to know this is at a whole different level now," Knudtson said.

The mayor asked city staff to prepare a report on the number of police calls related to the club and for suggestions on a possible ordinance governing after-hours clubs.

Knudtson said he respects Buck but doubts the club owner's ability to control the crowds.

"I'm not sure if this is about any individual's ability to manage the situation as much as it is just an uncontrollable situation," he said. "I'm really struggling right now because I thought if anybody could control that, it'd be you -- and I'm not certain you can."

Buck thinks he's being targeted unfairly.

"Where were all these people when these other bars had shootings?" he said. "We're constantly being called to the table over stuff we have no control over."

Unlike the first several weekends since the club's opening, no officers had been assigned to watch the New Year's crowd. Police chief Steve Strong said he has neither the manpower nor the budget to spend on policing the area of the club again anytime soon.

Residents complained to the council about loud noise, trash and constant traffic parades -- all of which they blamed on the Taste patrons.

After Thursday's murder, Nelson Sparks is afraid the violence of years past has returned and cited 17 reports concerning the club that have been made to police since October.

"This is an ongoing situation that has not gotten any better," Sparks said. "These situations do not need to be in a residential area."

But Strong said most of the reports were unfounded -- including fights that hadn't happened and liquor that wasn't being sold inside.

Kim Dodson said Buck broke a promise to her neighborhood that he would hire adequate staff for security and close down if violence erupted.

"We want him to stick to his promise," she said.

Buck said he had promised to close only if the situation mirrored the violence of 1999, when police were attacked in a melee in the vicinity of the club.

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160