THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410290200
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Owners of an Atlantic Avenue nightspot won a 20-day reprieve Friday from Alcoholic Beverage Control Board efforts to yank their liquor license permanently, until a judge decides whether they had a fair hearing.
At issue is whether The Edge, a tavern in the 2100 block of Atlantic Ave., should suffer a so-called ``death penalty'' by the state board only a month after a lower level ABC hearing officer suspended its license for only 10 days and levied a $750 fine.
The punishment was meted out after owners Alex and Anne Asercion conceded they had failed to meet state requirements that 40 percent of sales involve food because some of the sales figures were under-reported.
``It was a mistake made by our bookkeeper,'' Asercion said later. ``She didn't understand the regulations.''
A March 22 appearance before ABC regional hearing officer Susan Stevick in Chesapeake resulted in a fine and temporary license suspension for the offenses, Asercion and his wife said.
But on April 5 the ABC Board in Richmond reviewed the case and decided punishment should be more severe. The members ruled that The Edge should forfeit its license permanently, but declined to offer an explanation for their actions, said Kevin E. Martin-Gayle, one of the lawyers representing the Asercions.
Complicating matters, Martin-Gayle said, was a letter from the ABC Board to City Councilman Linwood O. Branch III referring to a March 29 meeting between board members, Branch and a bevy of Virginia Beach officials to plan ways to quell summertime behavior problems outside Atlantic Avenue bars.
The letter was signed by board chairwoman Catherine Giordano and member Clarence W. Roberts and referred to ``public safety issues'' related to a group of bars in the 2100 block of Atlantic Ave.
In addition to Branch, the letter reveals the meeting was attended by City Manager James K. Spore, Police Chief Charles R. Wall, City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley , Councilman Louis R. Jones and several other Virginia Beach police and fire officials.
The Asercions and their lawyers filed an immediate Circuit Court appeal when ABC investigators tried to pick up their liquor license April 11 and won a 60-day stay until the matter could come before a local or state tribunal.
At a Friday hearing before Circuit Court Judge Bonnie Shockley, lawyers Moody E. Stallings and John W. Richardson, who also represent the Asercions, demanded a full hearing on events leading to the ABC Board ruling.
``It's plain and simple that it was a conspiracy of Virginia Beach police and city officials to bust the block,'' said Stallings. ``They (Asercions) didn't have public safety problems, just a matter of accounting problems.''
John P. Griffin, assistant state attorney general, representing ABC interests, argued that ABC board members have a wide latitude in regulating Virginia liquor laws. In addition, he said, the agency is a regulatory body not governed by the rules of criminal proceedings.
Judge Shockley delayed a decision on a full court hearing until Nov. 18. Until then the Asercions are free to use their liquor license at The Edge. by CNB