Hearing set for bar's liquor change

Athens City Council Monday evening requested a state hearing on a request from the Smiling Skull Saloon to change its liquor license so that it can serve more types of alcohol and remain open longer.

City Council member Kent Butler, who represents the west-end First Ward where “the Skull” is located, asked for the hearing.

Currently, the Skull, which is located on West Union Street in Athens, has a D-1/D-2 permit that allows it to serve beer and wine until 1 a.m. The bar is requesting a D-5 permit that would let it serve beer, wine and liquor until 2:30 a.m.

The bar is located in a B-1 zone, meaning for residential and business, Butler explained Monday night. This means that residents occupy apartments and buildings nearby, he said.

Butler requested that the hearing be held in Athens instead of Columbus.

Mayor Paul Wiehl said that some residents near the business have lodged complaints, which led to him wanting to hold a hearing on the matter, something that doesn’t often happen for liquor permits.

Smiling Skull owner Chris Wolf said he requested the change in permit so that he could compete with other bars near him, all of which are able to serve liquor and stay open until 2:30 a.m. These include the Cat’s Den and the Oak Room, he said.

“I’m trying to even the playing field,” he said. “I applied for that license 16 years ago. Finally, this year, they are processing the license.”

Wolf acknowledged that complaints about noise have come from that side of town, but said it was not certain whether that noise was coming from the Skull or the Cat’s Den next door. The complaints have been anonymous, he said.

“I’m just trying to improve my business,” he said. “Commerce in this city is what keeps things rolling. If I make more money, the city makes more money, and maybe I can hire somebody and that person makes money.”

Wolf added a beer garden to the back of the Skull, but was shot down by the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals on being able to open it up. A hearing has been scheduled on that issue in October.

“I’m not trying to pull any fast ones. I’m trying to go through the right channels,” he said. “They don’t seem to be helping me along too much.”

Wolf also pointed out that the clientele at the Skull includes a lot of working people, age 40 and over.

“Why can’t they have a beer garden to sit in outside to smoke and have a beer?” he asked. “They’re not going to go uptown to the C.I. or the Crystal Casino.” (These are predominately student bars on North Court Street.)

He also mentioned his large contingent of motorcycle-enthusiast customers who come to Athens to ride the state parks and grab a drink at the Skull.

“They always come here,” he said. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.