Joliet Mobil Station Can Serve Alcohol: IL Liquor Commission - Patch.com

JOLIET, IL — Terry Lambert, a long-time Joliet gas station owner, has won his appeal to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission to allow for on-site consumption of alcohol inside his Mobil gas station. The state's ruling comes one year after the Joliet City Council voted 5-3 in a controversial decision to make an exception for the new Thorntons on Collins Street.

The Thorntons got approved 5-3 with Jan Quillman voting with Pat Mudron, Sherri Reardon, Bettye Gavin and Don "Duck" Dickinson to approve the two liquor licenses. Voting against it were Larry Hug, Mike Turk and Terry Morris. O'Dekirk was strongly against it.

This week, Lambert and his lawyers from Joliet's Mahoney, Silverman & Cross Law Firm learned they prevailed at the state level in their quest to overturn Joliet's denial of his liquor license.

"It is fair, it makes sense," Lamber told Joliet Patch's editor on Tuesday morning.

Here are some of the key excerpts from the Illinois Liquor Control Commission's ruling that went in favor of Lambert and against the city of Joliet:

• "Both sections of the Joliet Liquor Code make it abundantly clear that it is prohibited to issue a license to a motor fuel station, and it is prohibited for a liquor licensee to sell motor fuels. The only exception listed in both sections is for licensees who held licenses prior to September 20, 1989. There are no other exceptions. There is no process included in the ordinance by which a licensee or applicant could apply for a waiver. Therefore, the only avenue for a licensee or applicant who wishes to both sell liquor and motor fuels is by having the ordinance amended."

• "The Joliet City Council enacted resolution number 7450 on October 15, 2019. That resolution adopted the Development Agreement entered into by Thornton's, the Will County Historical Society, and the City of Joliet. Section 4(d)(1) of the Development agreement states as follows: 'Upon application by Thornton's, the City shall issue to Thornton's: (a) a Class A license for the Subject Property, waiving the requirements of Section 4-39 regarding the prohibition of motor fuel sales at a liquor license premise (upon issuance, the Class A license shall include an affirmative waiver of Section 4-39).' The resolution of the Joliet City Council must be construed and is admitted to by Joliet during argument as a legislative action amending the prohibition regarding the sale of liquor and motor fuels by the same licensee."

• "Section 4-12(p) and Section 4-39 and Resolution 7450 stand in contrast to one another. Section 4-12(p) and Section 4-39 prohibit the issuance of a license to the seller of motor fuels and prohibits a licensee from selling motor fuels. In contrast Resolution 7450 permits the sale of motor fuels at the Thornton's Class A liquor license. In order to interpret the ordinances in harmony, the only way to read these legislative actions is that Resolution 7450 exempted Class A liquor licenses from the prohibitions regarding motor fuel sales. It should be noted that our interpretation only applies to Class A liquor licenses and not any other class of liquor license issued by the City of Joliet."

• "Accordingly, as Joliet created an exemption from the prohibition regarding motor fuels in Resolution 7450, that exemption should have applied to any Class A liquor license holder or applicant. Lambert applied for a Class A liquor license. The Class A liquor license permits the sale of motor fuels, accordingly, Joliet's decision to deny the application based on the sale of motor fuels was not supported by the evidence in light of the entire record."

On a key side note, Steve Jones, as interim city manager last year, urged the Council to approve the controversial liquor license for Thorntons in January 2020. Four months later, Jones used that as one of the reasons for his termination of Marty Shanahan as the city's corporation counsel.

Shanahan's termination letter included the following remarks from Jones: "Prior to the (Jan. 6, 2020) Council meeting, regarding Thorntons liquor license, I specifically asked Shanahan to be prepared to answer any inquires that would imply other gas stations could get video gaming due to the city setting a precedent. Since there was an approved agreement that had been drafted to specifically identify the unique conditions of preserving a historic structure on site, there was no opportunity for a similar request to be honored by others.

"During the meeting, I asked Marty to step up and say something. He did not. As a result, I rendered a legal conclusion as to the uniqueness. At a later point of the meeting, a Council member asked about the potential for litigation from other gas stations seeking a similar deal. Shanahan could not coherently answer the question, so the attorney for the Will County Historical Society stepped in and referenced my explanation as the key point," Jones wrote in his letter firing Shanahan.

On Tuesday, Mayor O'Dekirk told Joliet Patch, "This is the one thing Steve Jones listed when firing Marty Shanahan. So, Shanahan's 100 percent right, Jones was 100 percent wrong, yet Marty got fired. Jones insisted that the decision on Thorntons would not apply to other gas stations, but Shanahan didn't agree with him on that. My office said no all along. You don't do this."

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https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/joliet-mobil-station-can-serve-alcohol-il-liquor-commission

2021-01-12 16:16:00Z
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