TASTE LOUNGE PUT ON PROBATION FOR SIX MONTHS

Taste owner Michael Pryor

After much public debate and discussion, the Cape Girardeau City Council voted to grant a six-month probationary liquor license to a Good Hope night spot to which police are frequently called.

The council's decision was unanimous, although some council members admitted having reservations about the decision to grant a probationary license to the Taste Restaurant and Lounge at 402 Good Hope St.

"I have some misgivings," said Councilman Tom Neumeyer, who represents Ward 2 where the Taste Lounge is located.

Councilman Hugh White agreed that the decision was a difficult one. He said he came to the meeting intending to vote to revoke the club's license. "While I have adjusted my vote to concur with what's proposed, I do so reluctantly," he said.

About 90 people attended a public hearing Monday night at City Hall that lasted for 90 minutes. The council had been asked to consider denying a liquor license for the night club.

Police Chief Rick Hetzel originally asked for a hearing in April before owner Michael Pryor applied for a liquor license May 30. The council set a hearing for June 5, which is only 25 days earlier than the date all liquor licenses in the city must be renewed.

The hearing was a chance for both sides to air their concerns.

Dennis Meyer, a business owner along Good Hope Street, said something must be done to eliminate problems caused by patrons of the club and crowds that gather outside.

Littering, fighting and drug dealing along Good Hope Street in the blocks surrounding the Taste have "gotten progressively worse" in the past few years, Meyer said.

If the focal point of the problem comes from the bar, then something must be done, he said. "He knows he's been in trouble," Meyer said of the bar's owner. Meyer questioned people at the meeting who frequent the night club. They said they were willing to help curtail crime or violence in the area if it would mean keeping the bar open.

"Where have you been the last two years or the last six months?" Meyer responded.

Since last year, when the council renewed a license for retail liquor by the drink and 5 percent beer by the drink, police have received an increasing number of calls concerning serious incidents. Sixty-four calls ranging from assault to peace disturbance to drug possession were recorded in an area around the Taste since last January. Those are the reasons the department cited for denying the liquor license.

Case studies show that when you deny a liquor license, the incidents decrease, Hetzel said.

The problems in that area don't exist just for police but for everyone whether they are residents of the neighborhood or patrons of the club, said the chief.

"It is my job to bring those incidents to the attention of the council that I feel are threats to public safety," Hetzel said.

He said he had intended to show a two-and-one-half-minute video showing crowds yelling profanities and disrupting police who were attempting to make a routine arrest along Good Hope Street. Equipment failure prevented the tape from being shown, however.

But Damarcus Pryor, who runs the Taste with his father, said the problems aren't just their responsibility. Since much of the activity occurs in the streets, he believes police should be accountable.

The city has no ordinance prohibiting large crowds from gathering or an adult curfew. Without those types of ordinances there is little the police can do, said Mayor Al Spradling III.

Damarcus Pryor also suggested that other options be explored to curb problems.

"If you don't renew the license you are cutting our livelihood and doing a disservice to the patrons," he said.

Many in the crowd said if the Taste were to close there would be no place for blacks to gather. "If we don't have that club then we don't have anything," said Michelle Jefferson.

While Mary Lou Reddin opposes closing the club, she said something has to be done about the litter and loud noises. Her father, J.T. Nelson, used to own the property when it was the People's Lounge. He still lives next door.

"We need to have law and order too," she said. "There are no excuses. I don't want them to close, but I don't want them disturbing my peace.

Neither did the council, which considered putting stipulations on the probationary license but decided against it.

"Yanking a liquor license is a serious matter," said Councilman Frank Stoffregen. "And we do this with caution."

The city in the past has rejected liquor licenses for other bars and put some establishments on probation because problems continued.

Choosing probation rather than revocation "is an appropriate way to handle it," said Spradling. "It puts the burden on Mr. Pryor and his patrons to police themselves."