Serving alcohol to under age persons in Fayetteville comes with a penalty. That lesson was learned by license holders at Kiku and La Parilla restaurants and Marathon Food Mart when the City Council Dec. 7 added a $500 fine and warning letters on top of fines already imposed by city court.

An employee at each of the three businesses was cited for serving alcohol to persons under age 21 during an undercover operation, said Police Chief Steve Heaton.

All were found guilty in city court and fined $135, Heaton said.

The council agreed with Heaton’s recommendation to impose a $500 fine and a warning letter regarding license suspension or revocation for further violations.

Under city ordinance, City Manager Joe Morton had already issued a two-year revocation for the employees who violated the under-age rule.

Heaton said he reviewed compliance by the three businesses, finding that the current violations were first violations for each. Licensees present at the meeting apologized for the violations.

Mayor Ken Steele said the first undercover operation targeting under-age alcohol sales occurred nearly 10 years go. That operation netted many violators. Since that time there have been few violators, he said.

“We have a strong commitment that we don’t contribute to the accident statistics on under-age drinking and driving,” Steele said.

In a related matter, the council heard an appeal of their decision by Marathon owner Abdul Majeed. Citing the extenuating circumstances of his brother who had just died, Majeed said he is often the only person on duty at the food mart and would be unable to call another employee to ring up alcohol. He said a two-year prohibition on being allowed to sell alcohol would constitute a hardship on his family’s financial support.

Responding to questions from Councilman Larry Dell and others, Majeed said he owns two other stores in Decatur.

The council denied the appeal by a unanimous vote, with Steele saying he knew little else the council could do in that case.

Kiku is located at 190 Pavilion Parkway, La Parilla is at 94 Pavilion Parkway, and Marathon at 535 North Glynn St.

login to post comments