BLT, a company that runs a bar on Lucas Street called 52 Night Spot, formerly known as "The Spotlight Club," was denied a liquor license
Florence County deputies conducted a compliance inspection on August 28, 2011 and found the club to be operating without a license and other violations.
Deputies charged the bar operator with several violations of the state Liquor law and seized liquor and money.
After the compliance check, Sheriff Kenney Boone filed a protest with the South Carolina Department of Revenue on BLT's pending liquor license application.
Sheriff Boone says deputies had been called to the club numerous times. So many times, he says the club became a public nuisance and a burden to law enforcement.
Florence County Sheriff's Office records indicate that over approximately three years, deputies responded to more than 100 complaints, including aggravated assaults, motor vehicle thefts, vandalism to vehicles, larceny, man with a gun, drug possession, armed robbery, and disorderly conduct.
The application was denied.
BLT appealed the denial of the license to the South Carolina Administrative Law Court. Sheriff Boone's Motion to Intervene was granted. A hearing was held before the Administrative Law Court in February of this year.
Before the Court ruled on the appeal, it was discovered that BLT had lost the lease to the premises in February which prompted the Department of Revenue and FCSO to move to reopen the record to assert as an additional reason to deny the license. Liquor licenses are only issued to applicants at a specific location. The Court granted the motion to reopen the record on March 19.
This week, BLT withdrew its appeal of the denial of its application for a liquor license, effectively ending the matter.
"For years the Spotlight Club had been a problem that never seemed to get better," Sheriff Boone said in a press release. "We responded to this location continually for calls of injury to people, damage to property and other illegal activity, to the point where we had to take action. The vast majority of establishments serving alcohol in our County operate well within the law and cause few problems to the public or law enforcement. For those which cause problems however, we won't hesitate to take action to protect the public."
