The doors were literally and figuratively closed Tuesday night as the Peoria City Council debated the merits of a liquor license application.
The Empire Lounge on Sterling Avenue in Peoria was rejected by the City Council in a narrow 5-3 vote. Opponents of the liquor license for the location cited a lack of trust and transparency between the business owner and the city.
As Councilwoman Denise Jackson was voicing her opposition to the Empire Lounge application, the establishment’s manager stormed out of the council chambers and slammed the door shut, drawing the ire of Peoria Mayor Rita Ali.
“If that reflects the kind of behavior we might expect from an Empire Lounge manager, I have serious concerns about the operations,” Ali said.
The mayor did, however, support Empire Lounge’s liquor licence application. She said it was a beautiful space and added that she would like to see the business prove itself. But Ali said the establishment made “big mistakes” and that she would “not hesitate” to revoke the liquor licence if it was granted and more violations occurred.
Resident: Trust has been broken and cannot be repaired
Empire Lounge entered Tuesday night with a shaky history of city compliance, accused of serving alcohol at an event on Jan. 6 without a liquor license.
John Sims, who identified himself as a co-owner of Empire Lounge, said he owed the city an apology for the incident. He said his business and the city “got off to a bad start” and he hoped to mend the relationship.
However, Sims’ proposals were not welcomed by the entire City Council or by members of nearby neighborhood associations.
Bill O’Brien, a member of the Forrest Hill Homeowners Association, told the council that the trust between Sims and the neighborhood had been “broken and cannot be repaired” after Sims’ meetings with neighborhood members. Sims had previously told the Peoria liquor commission that he did not serve alcohol without a liquor license on Jan. 6.
Jackson, who represents the district where Empire Lounge is located, focused his opposition to the license almost exclusively on a lack of trust.
“Everything from trust or lack thereof came up over and over again,” Jackson said. “People even tried to bring race into the issue and I have to say that Mr. Sims acknowledged tonight that that was not an issue. But I think there’s something that needs to be made clear beyond race: There have to be certain inherent qualities when you’re talking about running a business in a community, especially a neighborhood association. Those qualities that are so inherent need to be strong.”
Jackson also said there had been a lack of transparency and consistency on the part of Empire Lounge as it sought approval for its liquor license. He left the door open for Empire Lounge to go back to the council for a liquor license if it could first repair its relationship with the neighborhoods.
“You (O’Brien) made the comment that trust has been violated and could never be accepted, well, I don’t think that should be the case when we’re talking about human beings and communities,” Jackson said.
Filling a ‘void’ in Peoria’s business community
Council members who supported the liquor license said the business should be given the opportunity to prove it can operate in good faith.
Councilwoman Bernice Gordon-Young proposed approving the liquor license, saying she did not want to see a resident “sentenced to life in prison for not having experience.”
“One of the challenges in this particular situation is that I think Mr. Sims — yes, I agree that he has made some mistakes in this process — but I think part of the challenge is the way he represents himself,” Gordon-Young said. “He did not represent himself with his heart and with all the investment he has made in this business and the financial loss he has suffered. I think it’s important that we realize that, acknowledge that and allow him a certain level of tolerance.”
Gordon-Young also said that if the business went wrong, action could be taken, but not giving the business a chance was the wrong decision.
Councilman Andre Allen said Empire Lounge could “fill a void” in Peoria’s business community. He said the decision has kept him up at night. He believed relations between Empire Lounge and the neighborhood could be repaired.
“When I think about a void that I think Empire Lounge is going to fill, when my friends come to town and ask me about places to go, I’ll be honest, I have a hard time telling them places to go in the city of Peoria,” Allen said. “Shout out to the Heights, but as someone who represents the city of Peoria, I don’t like to tell people to go to the Heights, I’m just being honest. So, I want this for our city, I want this for our culture, I want us to have cool places that people want to go and have fun and respect the neighborhoods.”
Allen said Empire Lounge’s operating plan, which would see it close at 10 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends, “alleviates the potential for late-night issues.”
What happened to Empire Lounge before?
In June, Empire Lounge appeared before the Peoria Liquor Commission for the third time.
Two previous attempts to obtain a liquor license were unsuccessful as the business ran into community concerns. While about a half-dozen supporters showed up for the June meeting, city staff raised new concerns.
The main issue relates to a small private party held at the establishment on Jan. 6. The gathering occurred before the space received its certificate of occupancy, which is required before allowing the public in.
A heated disagreement arose after alcohol investigator Rick Linthicum told commissioners that alcohol had been found in plain view at the establishment in January. Sims fervently denied ever having alcohol in the business.
“I don’t know where this whole alcohol thing is coming from,” Sims told commissioners in June. He called any claim that the business was selling alcohol “absolute lies.”
Commissioners focused on the certificate of occupancy violation when they voted 3-0 to recommend denial.
What do police reports and body camera footage show?
The Journal Star obtained two police reports and body camera footage related to the January incident.
Both reports indicate that open beer, wine and hard liquor were found in the establishment’s bar. In the body camera footage, officers drive past the bar as they enter and exit the building, but only stop there for a few seconds.
Several bottles can be seen at the bar. During the liquor commission meeting in June, owner Brandon Sims told commissioners he believed non-alcoholic cocktails were being served.
However, Linthicum said the police department interacted with John Sims, rather than his son, during previous incidents. Linthicum said John Sims and Michael Miller, who said the January party was for his mother, “acknowledged the fact that the liquor was there, on the bar, in plain view and also on the body camera.”
Some of the images the Journal Star received were muted and the two people speaking to officers were blurred out. Much of the available conversation focused on the space housing guests without a certificate of occupancy.
A police report said the person police spoke with “was not aggressive, but did not seem to understand that he could not have anyone inside.” The name was redacted, but Linthicum identified John Sims as the person the police department interacted with.
In body camera footage, Linthicum noted that the violations would only “cause a bigger bump in the road going forward.” He also mentioned previous community concerns about the business.
“I wanted you to prove people wrong,” Linthicum said. “I wanted you to do the right thing, to run a good business, to run a place that was respected in the community. I wanted you to be able to do that because that was your word.”
