West LV store fights city over liquor license

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, March 1, 2001 | 10:50 a.m.

One week after the Las Vegas City Council unanimously revoked a liquor license from a West Las Vegas convenience store after employees were caught selling alcohol to minors, beer and wine are still being sold at the site.

And it will likely stay that way -- against the council's wishes -- until a legal challenge can work its way through the courts.

The store obtained a temporary restraining order against the city to allow beer and wine distributors to continue making shipments to the Day & Night Convenience Store, at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Owens Avenue.

Attorney J.T. Moran III was scheduled to appear before District Court Judge Allan Earl this morning to request a hearing to determine whether the council's vote was valid. If the judge agrees, a hearing could occur in 30 to 60 days. If not, Moran said, he will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Some residents and members of the City Council aren't happy about the case being taken to court.

"I'm very disappointed, and it's disrespectful to a community that says, 'What about our children?' " City Councilman Lawrence Weekly said Wednesday.

Several residents who attended Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's Town Hall meeting Wednesday to discuss concerns in the black community brought up the store and were angered about alcohol being sold there. One woman said the store should be shut down altogether.

The initial city order came after a hearing Feb. 21 during which the council heard allegations of misconduct against the store owner, John Bydel, and his employees.

An investigation by the city's Business Services Department with the help of Metro Police found six violations of selling alcohol to minors, two work card violations and three alcohol awareness card violations over a year and a half.

Teens also loiter around the parking lot and the investigations found allegations of drug dealing.

Weekly, who represents the ward where the store is located, said the problems go beyond what the investigators found.

"I've never seen a convenience store anywhere in the city of Las Vegas like this one," he said.

Moran had pleaded with the council during the hearing for leniency, saying Bydel deserved a second chance.

Bydel even submitted an affidavit in which he admitted the allegations, but noted he had fired the employees who had sold alcohol to minors. He also submitted all of the proper health cards and other permits that were mentioned in the violations.

"I think he should be given the opportunity to show he can provide a service to the community. At least afford him six months," Moran said.

Moran said Wednesday that the council's decision to revoke the permit was not based on law or fact. It was an arbitrary decision, he said.

He pointed out that the item following the revocation was an application for a liquor license for a topless club proposed by brothers Ali and Hassan Davari. After hearing graphic testimony from Metro Police of illegal, sexual activities at the Davaris' Texas clubs, the council unanimously approved the license.

"They did not apply a set standard for all applicants," Moran said.

Moran said he will submit to the judge 1,200 signatures from residents who say they want the store to stay open and to continue selling alcohol. He also pledged to set up a meeting with residents to address any concerns.