Shunnarah Law Wins ABC Appeal!
N/AOUTCOME: Win
Louisville Metro Alcohol Beverage Control Administrator denied an alcohol license to a woman interested in investing $2,000,000 to construct a commercial development in Louisville. The commercial cente ... r is to include a BP Convenient Store with gasoline products. Shunnarah Law appealed to the Kentucky Alcohol Beverage Control Board. The decision of the Louisville Metro Administrator was reversed and ordered to grant the license. Louisville Metro argued that: 1. Public sentiment citing over 200 people from the community, a Metro Council woman, and several church ministers filed letters of protest; 2. It is a poverty-stricken area and any new alcohol licensed establishment would be detrimental to the health of the community; 3. A new development is taking place to remove the low-income projects and replace them with high quality mixed income housing; 4. The area already has adequate licensed alcohol establishments; 5. The neighborhood is predominantly residential with schools within a short distance of the proposed site; and 6. The Russell neighborhood has high number of alcohol and drug-related deaths; Shunnarah Law argued that: 1. The business was offering to invest $2 million in a commercial center; 2. The owner is an experienced and owns other BP Convenient stores with gasoline products; 3. The owner has good relations with the neighborhoods around her existing businesses and has no criminal history, and no prior Code Enforcement or ABC violations; 4. In order to have a viable business, she must have an ABC license to be competitive with other businesses; 5. The Metro Government is promoting the City as the Bourbon capital of the world and allowing numerous other establishments to be granted alcohol licenses for bourbon bars and bourbon restaurants even as close as main street; and 6. It would be discriminatory to deny a business woman a license, but allow all the other businesses licensing to sell alcohol.
