Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Cates files beer petition
The operator of a Hartford convenience store wants Chancellor Telford Forgety to determine if Cocke County still has a distance rule for the sale of beer. Harold Cates, doing business as Downtown Hartford Citgo, applied for a beer license in February but was denied by the Cocke County Beer Board which determined that the business was located within 2,000 feet of a church. The Board had previously adopted what is commonly referred to as the "2,000 foot rule" as set out in state law, prohibiting the sale of beer within 2,000 feet of a church. But the action argues that previously, the board failed to follow it's own regulations and also failed to enforce the regulation uniformly. According to Attorney Clyde Dunn, who filed the Petition, the board had in 2015 issued a permit to Ashaben Patel, operator of the Newport Shell station on West Highway 25/70. The action says the Shell station is 1,822 feet from the Open Door Church. According to Dunn, the distance in the Patel permit, was measured and determined by the Cocke County Tax Assessor's Office, which is also relied upon by the Beer Board to determine distances using the "straight-line" method. The action says the rejection of Cate's application "constitutes a discriminatory application" of the 2,000 foot rule. Attorney Dunn argues that the issuance of the Patel permit, in violation of the distance rule, "invalidates and nullifies the distance rule as a basis for denying a permit." Dunn alleges that Cates was wrongfully denied a beer permit, and he says the action of the beer board was arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law "all to the great damage and loss" of Cates. The petition asks that the court hold that the Beer Board may not rely on the 2,000 foot rule as a basis for denying a beer permit, because the rule was invalidated and nullified by the issuance of the Patel license for a location within 2,000 feet of a church. Cates asks that the court direct the Board to issue him a permit, as well as other relief including his attorney's costs.


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