[Durham INC] PAC2: Oct minutes

[Tom Miller]

Thanks, Bill.

 

To all:

 

Please read these Pac 2 Minutes as they relate to ABC permits.  They make very interesting reading and will inform INC’s consideration of the same issue.

 

Tom

 

From: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org] On Behalf Of TheOcean1 at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2010 10:38 PM
To: pac2 at yahoogroups.com; inc-list at durhaminc.org; dukepark at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Durham INC] PAC2: Oct minutes

 

Below and attached are the excellent minutes from our Oct meeting, thanks to our Volunteer Secretary Sherry Coulter. Certainly not an easy meeting to document. Please forward to your neighborhoods.

 

Bill Anderson
PAC2  

 

MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER PAC2 MEETING

DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS STAFF DEVELOPMENT CENTER

OCTOBER 11, 2010 

 

Facilitator:      Bill Anderson –  <mailto:TheOcean1 at aol.com> TheOcean1 at aol.com

                        Cheryl Shiflett –  <mailto:scjdurham at aol.com> scjdurham at aol.com

                        

The meeting was called to order at 6:06 p.m.

Self-introductions followed.

 

COMMUNITY CONCERNS

A question was asked about the repaving project on Crest Street and Douglas Road.  The road is currently at the point of having been scraped and the manhole covers raised.  Crest Street has a lot of manhole covers, and people are swerving all over the road to try to avoid them.  Cynthia Mebane-Watts said that the contractor raises all of the covers at the same time, then the paving crew comes in to pave the street because it is cheaper to do it this way.  Cheryl noted that it is done this way because moving heavy equipment is expensive.

Someone asked about zoning laws concerning a vendor selling refrigerators at the corner of Duke and Newsom, which is a residential area. The vendor has been in this area for several weeks selling brand new refrigerators, washers and dryers.  Karen Swope said she would investigate.

Another person was concerned about a neighbor selling dogs.  Police had talked to the person three times previously, but the person was now back and even closer to the residential area, now off Maynard.  Police talked to him this time for about 15 minutes, and he finally left after another 10 minutes.  The person is trespassing, because the property is owned by someone else.  Bill said he moved to the corner of Club and Roxboro Road.  Bill thinks that until we clamp down on this type of thing we are inviting people to trespass and break other ordinances.

Concern was also expressed about a house at 2913 Banner Street being torn down by Brown Brothers Plumbing.  Residents have said they saw asbestos in the material being removed, and that the materials were still sitting on site.  The house was originally built in 1928, so would likely have both lead and asbestos in it.  A neighbor had spoken to Rick Hester and his department was to look at it today.  He had also said that a permit had not been issued for the work.  It was noted that the city could do a stop-work order to make sure the contractor got all the hazards out.  The state would then come in and set regulations and certify people to remove the materials. 

The group was reminded that yard sale regulations restrict sales to four times per year and that they must be held at least three months apart for no more than two consecutive days during daylight hours, and that items can’t be stored outside.

Bill said he would try to get the websites for city and county codes posted onto the PAC2 website.

Ms. Mebane-Watts responded to Mr. Bridges’ concern from last month about storm water management, stating that the project should be completed by October 27th.

Someone noted that there were people in their neighbor from the School of the Environment with the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative going through the neighborhood and putting house locations into a GPS, supposedly to study whether pregnant women do better in different neighborhoods.  Ms. Mebane-Watts verified that these people were legitimate, and that the handheld device captures pictures of any concern they may be addressing.

A resident reported that the previous Friday night/Saturday morning there was a shooting on Hillsborough Road at the Destinee night club followed by a car chase, with the car crashing in front of his house about 2:30 in the morning.  His daughter had seen men crawl out of the car and run. He wanted to note that Officer Waddell had approached the family and was very sympathetic and effectively allayed the family’s fears, and he expressed his appreciation for this.

Another resident noted that residents at the house they had been discussing had been shooting a pistol in the back yard between houses.

 

DEPARTMENTAL UPDATES

Durham Parks and Recreation:  Audrey Gill introduced Walltown Community Center representatives Gary Mattocks and Pam Sellars, who spoke about upcoming programs at the new Walltown center, including junior cheerleading, various teen programs, afterschool programs, and basketball, as well as adult programs including open gym, cake decorating, wellness, and yoga, and mature adult programs such as bridge, open gym, and trips to the fruitcake factory, state fair and Tanglewood Festival of Lights.  Other upcoming programs include teen college campus tours, a college fair, and an adult cooking workshop.  The center is at 1308 West Club Blvd., and the walking track is free for community members.  Ms. Gill added that there were several upcoming trips for mature adults, including an overnight trip to Williamsburg, a computer class for seniors, fall festivals at West Point on the Eno and W.D. Hill Recreation Center and the last 3rd Friday.  She also announced that the Campus Hills center will close after December 5th for approximately eight months for renovations.

Neighborhood Improvement Services: Ms. Mebane-Watts announced that Durham had hosted its fourth Project Homeless Connect event the previous Thursday.  481 people had registered for services, which was an increase from last year.  This was the first year that they had partnered with the Veterans’ Administration for project “Stand Down”.  Mr. Leonti from NIS had volunteered to give haircuts, and the YMCA at American Tobacco let people take showers. Over 500 volunteers participated.

Larry Revelle from Durham Human Relations announced the annual City of Durham Seven Stars basketball tournament between the police department and fire department, to be held at Holton Career and Resource Center on October 14th.  The tournament is a fundraiser for a needy cause.  

Cheryl asked people to raise their hand if they had cruise control in their car, and announced that next month would be pace car program month.  She also said that there were still No Soliciting signs available.

Solid Waste:  Recycling coordinator Larrisha McGill said that blue schedules were on the back table, along with stickers for the carts of what can and cannot go in them and new brochures. She also said that the shredding and  electronic recycling event the previous Saturday was well-attended, and they had to turn away people because the pallets were all filled early, with a continuous flow of traffic all day.  Another event is scheduled for the first of the year, but electronics can go to the household hazardous waste facility during regular hours. 

 

PROGRAM

Charlie Fuller and John Ruth of the North Carolina ABC Commission Education and Training Division spoke about alcoholic beverage permits.  Mr. Fuller’s division provides training to businesses which have a permit to sell alcohol on selling and serving alcohol responsibly and on civil liability.  They are in involved in initiatives which include providing alcohol education, health and awareness programming to elementary, middle and high schools.  

Most of the questions provided by the group concerned sales at off-premise businesses.  There are two types of businesses: on-premise businesses such as restaurants and off- premise businesses such as convenience stores.  The permitting process is overseen by the permitting division, pricing division and legal division.  An administrator oversees the day-to-day operations.  If there is a violation at a business then Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) should be contacted, along with police if there are illegal activities happening.  ALE will investigate the complaint, and if the business is cited for a violation the legal department takes action, determines a settlement and mails the document to the permitee, who can agree to the settlement or ask for a hearing.  The settlement may be a fine or suspension, though there have been past cases of revocation due to death when selling to underage persons.  For illegal activities occurring on the premises, notify both police and ALE, which will initiate an investigation.  Once the violation has been substantiated by an ALE officer, the legal department would take civil action against the permitee by entering a settlement

Another question involved businesses that were selling drug paraphernalia.  Mr. Fuller said that first the business would be notified that the items they are selling are creating criminal activity in the community.  There was also a question concerning public opinion.  A public opinion form is circulated as part of the permitting process, and the designee in Durham will either approve or disapprove the application.  If there is an objection and the business wants to be heard, then they will.  But the designee serves as the community voice.  A resident asked whether the ABC board has to take into account the community voice, and Mr. Fuller answered that there was a fifteen-day window and the person should contact their designee to see what his process was and how her voice could be heard.  

Bill asked if permit revocation every actually happened?  Mr. Fuller said he would need to discuss that with the legal department, and that he does not know how many permits have been denied.  Dan Read wanted to know what recourse could be taken if the permitee is causing problems in the neighborhood.  Mr. Fuller said he should contact ALE and lodge a complaint, and the complaint would be investigated.  If they find there are violations a citation would be written and would go through the legal department, and the permitee would receive a notice of the settlement.  Public hearings are held once per month in Raleigh at 3322 Garner Road and can be found listed under Events on the ABC website.  Mr. Ruth said that a good starting place would be to contact Durham County ABC Chief Derrick McMillan on Chapel Hill Blvd. Mr. Fuller also said that a quarterly report from the ABC commission listing all of the permits issued in district 2 should be going to the PAC2 facilitators.  He also said that the ABC website could be used to find information on every permit in the county, and whether it was active, temporary, or no longer active, and to find the disposition of hearings. 

Bill wanted to know if a permit is ever revoked?  Mr. Fuller said that for an ABC violation which is a first offense the permit would not be revoked.  If drugs were being sold on the premises then that is a law enforcement issue and not an ABC violation.  If the permit holder over time due to violence and crime has caused a problem in the community then the history of violations will be looked at and the appropriate sanction will be entered.  Sanctions will depend on the level of offense, and can rise to the level of revocation.  Captain Smith noted that a certain convenience store in district 2 has had at least three violations, including the brother of a person working there making a drug deal in the parking lot, with police following the person into the store and finding drugs on him; the person was subsequently charged and convicted.  ABC also had an issue there and made some arrests.  Special operations found illegal gambling machines and a weapon.  One of the persons working there who is related to the permitee is a convicted felon.  Guns have been found, and police have made several drug buys in the parking lot.  The police have sent a history of the violations, and the chief has sent a letter.  The seriousness of violations here would seem to warrant revocation, and he would like to know how long this process should take, since he had sent the legal department representative an email detailing the calls for service a month ago and had since heard nothing.  Mr. Fuller recommended that he contact the legal department and find out when the case is scheduled to be heard, then go to the hearing and explain the problems they are having in the community.  Mike Woodard asked if they could put a notice for the hearing on the listserv so citizens can attend.  

Someone said that she thinks there is a problem with the system if it takes this much work to get a permit revoked, and wanted to know what could be  done to repair the system.  Bill said he would like to recreate something like the old court-watch system and coordinate with police to have citizens attend these hearings, and asked for a volunteer.  Peter Katz wanted to know why a permit could not be suspended while violations were investigated, such as in the case of a store where other illegal activities were occurring. Mr. Fuller noted that revoking an ABC permit would not close the business, so would not solve the problem.  He said that the Commission did want to know if a permitted business was detrimental to the community and was not being responsible.  Mr. Katz questioned whether, given the evidence in the above example being given to the Commission by Durham police, it was the store not being responsible or the ABC Commission not being responsible.  

Mike Shiflett wanted to know about the responsibility of the Commission and law enforcement.  Mr. Fuller said the permit granted by the Commission was a civil permit.  The Commission has total authority concerning whether the permit is granted.  If there are problems and ABC violations on the permitted property, and they have been cited to the Commission, they will respond to that ABC violation.  The ABC Commission has no authority other than concerning the permit.  Mr.  Shiflett noted that since ABC violations were considered civil violations, then a preponderance of evidence should be sufficient for the Commission to take action.  Mr. Fuller again suggested that people bring these issues up during the open hearing.  Mr. Ruth asked Bill if he had talked to Fred Gregory; Bill said that he had tried to talk to him and he refused to come to a meeting. 

Bill said he thought the ABC Commission was a monopoly, noting that some of the evidence already presented seemed to be sufficient to warrant a permit revocation, but that none had yet occurred.  On Guess Road persons at an establishment had nearly beat up an ABC officer and Durham police had to intervene. The establishment in question was breaking ABC laws before they were granted a permit, but still obtained a permit one month later.  

Wanda Boone wanted to know if responsible alcohol training is required, to which Mr. Fuller answered that it was prior to getting a permit.  Durham Together for Resilient Youth and Drug-Free Coalition sent letters out to permit holders to let them know that they will be conducting purchase surveys.  Due to the economic downturn, ALE is not performing the number of compliance checks as before, so TRY will send notice to ALE if a store does not ask for identification before selling alcohol, and copy the Durham sheriff and Durham police. If the store passes, then they will be thanked by Coalition members.  Research has shown that when these surveys are performed crime around the areas is reduced and store owners will be more responsible because residents will not shop at their store if they are known to sell alcohol irresponsibly. 

Ms. Boone wanted to know who would do training for stores which are found to be not in compliance.  Mr. Fuller said that was an ALE issue.  Mr. Fuller said that the Commission provides training and workshops on responsible sales and service if someone wants to organize the training, but North Carolina is not a mandatory compliance state, so training is only mandatory when first applying for a permit.  Once an organization sets up training, it is advertised on the ABC website and anyone can attend, and will receive a certificate of training and the business will receive a certificate of good practice.  Someone recommended that since it is a privilege to sell alcohol, once a violation has been committed that the permit should be suspended until the hearing.  Mr. Fuller said the first recourse for suspected violations is to call ALE, that the Commission is not an enforcement agency.  He said he could not answer the question of why permits have not been revoked, but that the hearings were the best venue for addressing the problem. 

The Education and Training Division which he represents tries to train businesses to sell responsibly, especially not selling to intoxicated persons and underage persons. He said he would take the information from the particular case mentioned and share it with one of the attorneys in the legal department.  Another person questioned the transparency of the process and wanted to know how the public could get information on permit revocations if Mr. Fuller couldn’t get it, to which he replied that he had not been able to get it because he could not make contact with the correct person, and he was not sure if the information was tracked in that manner.  Steve Hall asked how long the training for violators was, and Mr. Fuller replied that it was two hours.  He said that police can set up that class, but that attendance was voluntary unless a violation settlement made it mandatory. He then referred people to the ABC Commission website at  <http://www.ncabc.com/> www.ncabc.com for more information, or said that they could call 919-779-0700 and speak to Fred Gregory for legal questions, or Ann Johnson for permitting. 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:40p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Sherry Coulter

Secretary

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