• New Audubon Golf Clubhouse lacks proper alcoholic beverage permits...
• Next Master Plan Public Meeting scheduled for July 9, 2003...

NEW CLUBHOUSE, OLD PERMITS?

Though the new Audubon Golf Clubhouse serves mixed drinks, beer, and wine, the Department of Safety and Permits, the Department of Finance, and the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control have all confirmed that the AC/ANI has not applied for a required alcoholic beverage permit for the clubhouse. All of those agencies have also said that, since the Clubhouse is a new operation, a new permit must be obtained.

Our investigation has uncovered three alcoholic beverage permits associated with the ANI. One is issued to the "Pizzooria", located in the zoo. The second is issued to McDonald’s, also in the zoo. (This is the only McDonald’s in the country that has an alcoholic beverage permit.) Third, the ANI holds both liquor and beer permits, obtained in 1977, that are issued for 6500 Magazine, the address of the Audubon Nature Institute that is located across Magazine Street and several hundred yards from the new clubhouse. A city inspector who went out to determine whether the clubhouse had a permit was given copies of current renewals of these 1977 permits, and it is those renewal certificates which are apparently posted in the Clubhouse.

These 1977 permits would not appear to authorize the sale of alcohol in the new location. Before a new alcoholic beverage outlet can open, the City Code requires that "the location of such business shall be approved by the Department of Safety and Permits for compliance with the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance." Since Audubon is using renewal certificates for permits originally issued in 1977 for the new location, and since it has never obtained a separate permit for the clubhouse, or indeed notified either the state or city authorities that it would be selling alcoholic beverages at the clubhouse, proper approval has not been obtained. The Department of Safety and Permits reviews only original applications, and not renewals, for conformity with zoning laws, so the presence of a renewal certificate in a new location does not mean that the location has been approved.

It is questionable whether the clubhouse qualifies for a permit under the City Code:

- A Class A-General permit is issued for a bar, and can only be issued to "an establishment where city and state law provides that no persons under the age of 18 years is allowed." Since minors are presently being served food in the clubhouse, it cannot qualify for a Class A-General Permit.

- A Class A-Restaurant permit can be issued only to a restaurant which grosses at least 50% of its average monthly revenue from the food and non-alcoholic beverages. As you may recall, in our suit challenging the building permit for the clubhouse, the ANI maintained that the clubhouse does not earn more than 50% of its income from food, and that it is therefore not a restaurant (see http://www.saveaudubonpark.org/p4086.htm). The AC/ANI's claim that it is not a restaurant would seem to prohibit it from obtaining a Class A-Restaurant Alcoholic Beverage Permit. Thus, if the AC/ANI prevails on its argument that the clubhouse does not contain a restaurant – a position which the referee in our suit found led to "absurd results"-- it should not be issued a Class-A-Restaurant alcoholic beverage permit for the "non-restaurant."

The City’s alcoholic beverage law also prohibits alcoholic beverage outlets in parks. The City Code states:

"No alcoholic beverage outlet permit shall be granted or license issued for the establishment or opening of any barroom, saloon, cabaret, nightclub or other place where beverages of high alcoholic content or beer or ale are sold at retail to be consumed on the premises in any . . . park and recreation district . . . "

Save Audubon Park is concerned about the use of a permit issued for one facility being used in another. If entities such as the ANI are allowed to have "floating" alcoholic beverage licenses, there would seem to be no limits on the sale of alcohol in the park.

We understand the state office of alcohol and tobacco control is investigating.

AUDUBON PARK MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT

The next public meeting in the process for developing a Master Plan for Audubon Park is scheduled for July 9, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in the Audubon Tea Room. A supposedly 50% completed draft is to be published by June 6. For more information, see www.auduboninstitute.org/thepark/information.htm

If you've been following this process from the beginning, you will note that sometime after the first Public Meeting on January 13, the ANI officially added the Labyrinth as an element of the Master Plan. Clearly, the very squeaky wheel got the grease in this case, although it was probably aided by the substantial sums of money raised by the Labyrinth advocates. But their success should serve as a reminder to those who feel strongly about certain park issues, such as the public being forbidden from using the batture athletic fields or the golf course land in off hours, that the ANI responds to money and noise- and if you're unwilling or unable to proffer the former, you had better produce lots of the latter.