Chilkoot Cafe and Cyclery could face a $1,000 fine and a nine-day liquor license suspension after failing a third alcohol compliance check, according to Stillwater police. But the owner, Lee Stylos, plans to contest the citation.
Chilkoot was one of two Stillwater businesses that failed compliance checks Nov. 20. The other was the LumberYard Hockey and Sports Center on Washington Avenue. It was the LumberYard’s first violation.
Twice a year, Stillwater police use underage decoys to conduct compliance checks. The decoys attempt to order alcohol at local establishments and are instructed to tell the truth about their age if asked. They’re also told to provide their IDs when requested. According to police, the IDs indicate above the photograph that the bearer is under 21.
According to police reports, two decoys — ages 19 and 20 — entered Chilkoot around 4 p.m. Nov. 20 and ordered two Stella Artois-brand beers. The server requested their IDs and asked them to find a table. She delivered the alcohol to the table, police reports say.
After receiving the drinks, the decoys called the supervising officer, who was in a squad car nearby. When the officer entered the business, she saw one of the decoys had a beer in front of him.
Immediately the server approached the officer and said she’d made a mistake calculating the dates on one of the IDs, police reports say. She told the officer that she was uncertain about the dates and spoke with another employee, who confirmed the decoy was not of drinking age. According to police reports, the server said that when she realized the mistake, she immediately removed the beer sitting in front of the man in question, just before the officer entered the business.
When the officer asked if the server had any specific training on how to properly read IDs, she said she had not received specific training with Chilkoot, but had been a server for several years at various establishments and received training in the past, the police report says.
The officer issued the server a citation, and an administrative citation was mailed to the owner, Lee Stylos, Nov. 26. Chilkoot had previous violations on Aug. 8, 2013, and July 10, 2014.
According to the city’s ordinance, a liquor license holder is charged a $500 fine for the first offense. For the second offense, there’s a $750 fine and a three-day liquor license suspension. The penalty for the third offense is a $1,000 fine and a nine-day liquor license suspension. The fourth offense results in the revocation of the liquor license.
Stylos is appealing the most recent citation, arguing that the server made a mistake doing the math but quickly caught and corrected the mistake. In his opinion, she didn’t actually serve a minor.
The server, Lindsay Belland, who could be convicted of a gross misdemeanor, also told The Gazette she disagrees with parts of the police report and doesn’t believe the incident warranted a citation.
Chilkoot’s appeal will go before a hearing officer, who will make a decision. If Stylos disagrees with the hearing officer, he could appeal to the city council.
Regardless of the outcome, Stylos and Belland question whether the city’s compliance checks accomplish their stated purpose.
“The ultimate goal is to keep alcohol out of the hands of individuals under the age of 21,” said Sgt. Jeff Stender, of the Stillwater police. “There’s a high probability of problem behavior, injury or death when our young people drink alcohol.”
Although Stylos says understands the intent, he isn’t sure the checks actually reduce underage drinking. He doesn’t believe the businesses fined are often the types of places underage drinkers frequent.
“That’s not where kids go to drink these days,” Stylos said. “Trying to walk into a bar and get a drink without getting caught — I think it’s such a rare thing, at least in town here.”
Belland, a Stillwater resident and mother of three, also felt the department’s compliance checks don’t actually preventing underage drinking.
Although she’s willing to go through the legal process, she believes many share her view that the department’s style of policing doesn’t always reflect the desires of the community.
“It really wasn’t community policing,” she said. “It was definitely the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law.”
Belland hopes her situation will start a conversation about the role and approach of police in the community.
As for Chilkoot, alcohol isn’t even a large part of its business. In fact, a nine-day liquor license suspension wouldn’t hurt the business severely, Stylos said.
“We just have beer and wine to go with dinner,” he said. “It’s such a small revenue stream.”
In his opinion, the fines given to the individual employees and the blots on the employees’ records have more serious negative impacts.
Stylos said employees are trained to ask for ID and do so regularly.
“They ask everybody for their ID,” he said.
Thinking back on the three violations Chilkoot has received, Stylos said only one employee failed to check an ID, and it was her first day on the job. But when the police bring in decoys who are just under 21, it gets tricky, he said.
In light of recent events, Stylos said he’s considering some type of automated system that would allow employees simply to enter a birth date and verify the age.
“On our side, we’re trying to do everything we can,” he said.
If the current citation stands, one more bust could take alcohol off the menu at Chilkoot permanently.
Contact Jonathan Young at jonathan.young@ecm-inc.com