Panel Kills Inn’s Liquor License Bill Safety Cited For Denying License To Historic Hayden Lake Bed-And-Breakfast

Rep. Tom Dorr persuaded the House State Affairs Committee Wednesday to kill a bill that would have granted Hayden Lake’s Clark House a special liquor license.

The measure already had passed the Senate. It is the only way the historic bed-and-breakfast inn could obtain a liquor license under Idaho law.

“We’re surprised and disappointed,” lobbyist Gary Gould, who represented the Clark House, said afterward. “We weren’t aware of any up-front opposition. There obviously was some behind-the-scenes opposition to it.”

Dorr said, “It didn’t seem to make sense to open up a broad liquor license in a primarily residential area that’s on a lakeside, winding road.”

Dorr, a Post Falls Republican, said he’d gotten a few calls objecting to the bill on safety grounds.

The committee also received a letter from M.F. Edmondson of Hayden Lake, who said neighbors long have been concerned about traffic on the road.

The bill died on a 12-5 vote.

Dorr said he thought it was unfair for the Legislature to grant the business something that potentially could be worth thousands of dollars.

Transferable liquor licenses in cities often sell for $100,000 or more. The special license would have been non-transferable.

Dorr also objected to the bill on the grounds that the Legislature shouldn’t pass such specialized legislation.

Rep. Jim Stoicheff, D-Sandpoint, voted no. “I don’t like legislation that gives someone a special privilege that no other Idaho citizen can have, simply because they have the ability to come to the Legislature.”

Stoicheff said the bill that passed the Legislature some years back giving a special liquor license to the Enaville Snakepit was different, because that Shoshone County establishment always had been a bar. It just got left out when Idaho’s liquor laws changed to restrict licenses to incorporated cities.

Stoicheff said of the Clark House, “This place has never been a bar that I know of.”

Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Coeur d’Alene, arrived late and didn’t vote.

Rep. Marvin Vandenberg, D-Coeur d’Alene, voted no, but didn’t elaborate. Afterward, he said, “I have no position on it.”

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