Five Points bar strikes a deal that ends a protest of its alcohol license
A popular Five Points bar and the state revenue department have reached an agreement that effectively ends a protest of the bar’s license to serve alcohol. The bar has agreed to tighten ID checks to crack down on underage drinking and adhere to a minimum price for its alcoholic drinks, in addition to other conditions.
The Rooftop Bar and Lounge at 683 Harden St. in Five Points reached a deal with the S.C. Department of Revenue that makes way for the renewal of its liquor license. That permit had been protested by some residents of neighborhoods surrounding Five Points, as well as the University of South Carolina.
The nearby residents and the university have now withdrawn their protest of Rooftop, according to attorney Chris Kenney, who works for Democratic state Sen. Dick Harpootlian’s law firm, which has been representing the neighbors in various protests of Five Points bars in the last several years.
“After we learned of the deal, we helped in getting those protests pulled, because we support the deal,” Kenney told The State. “We think it is a good resolution. It has real consequences and real obligations, but it also gives these guys the opportunity to be a real player down there.”
Among the conditions the bar must meet to keep its alcohol licenses is that it must use a “forensic” ID scanner at all of its entrances and maintain up-to-date software for those scanners. It also agrees to provide law enforcement with copies of records related to the ID scanners. The bar must maintain security cameras at all entrances and at points-of-sale of alcohol, and it must maintain the footage from those cameras for a rolling seven-day period.
The agreement says the bar has to “encourage” walk-throughs of the business by the police, in which officers check IDs.
And the deal requires that Rooftop price all of its liquor drinks at more than $3.50 and all of its beer above $3. The bar is prohibited from promoting alcohol in its advertising. It must also offer menu items through Uber Eats or a similar food delivery service.
The deal says that if the Department of Revenue gets a sworn affidavit from law enforcement alleging a violation of the agreement, Rooftop’s alcohol licenses can be immediately suspended.
Mike Montgomery, the attorney for Rooftop, said the bar was glad to get a deal hammered out.
“Rooftop is pleased that we were able to work out an agreement that incorporates the significant measures it has implemented to combat underage drinking,” the attorney told The State. “We believe that Rooftop’s practices have created a model for combating underage drinking in an establishment in a district where underage drinking has been a problem. Those practices translate well everywhere. The business will continue to work with authorities to implement solutions as issues such as even more sophisticated fake identification as they arise.”
The Rooftop deal is the latest chapter in what has been a years-long battle between Harpootlian’s firm and Five Points neighbors, and the bars in the district . The senator and some neighbors have long pointed at the bars in the popular nightlife and entertainment district as the source of what they see as bad late-night behavior in the area.
Neighbors currently are protesting alcohol licenses for a number of bars in Five Points, including Pavlov’s, The Bird Dog, Murphy’s Law, Cotton Gin, Group Therapy and the 5 Points Saloon. Meanwhile, Breakers and Breakers Live had their alcohol licenses terminated earlier this year, and Pavlov’s and Moosehead Saloon had their booze licenses suspended. Moosehead subsequently closed.
Harpootlian has even introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would make plain the percentage of food and nonalcoholic beverages that an establishment would have to sell in order to maintain a liquor license.
The bar battles are just one ingredient that has led to a shifting landscape in Five Points, the more than century-old village just east of the USC campus. There currently are more than 30 empty storefronts in the district, as business and city leaders have grappled with what the future of the neighborhood will be.
As to whether protesting neighbors would accept more such agreements between Five Points bars and the revenue department, Kenney said decisions would likely come on a case-by-case basis. He said Rooftop had already been implementing many of the strategies outlined in the agreement in recent months.
“When you look at their operations in the last several months to a year, versus some of the other (Five Points bars), ... they did well for themselves in taking affirmative steps to guard against underage drinking,” Kenney said. “They had some track record to be able to say, ‘Hey, this is working, let’s continue on as we have been.’”
Meanwhile, Department of Revenue spokeswoman Bonnie Swingle said late Monday that the agency appreciates Rooftop’s “willingness to work with the department and the public protestants to implement additional safeguards.”
Swingle also said the possibility of other bars striking similar deals to the one Rooftop made “depends on the specific circumstances of each case, including the business’s record of compliance with alcohol licensing and regulations as well as particular concerns raised by public protestants and local law enforcement.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
