Dandy’s Owner Appeals Penalty

After operating his restaurant without a health permit for seven months, the owner of a Valley drive-in is appealing a $165 penalty from the Spokane Regional Health District.

James Orvis, owner of Dandy’s Drive In, 8024 E. Sprague, will ask for a waiver of the penalty at a meeting of the Spokane Board of Health today at 1:45 p.m.

Health officials discovered on July 28 that Orvis had been operating Dandy’s without a permit since he bought and reopened the restaurant in December of 1996.

It is illegal for a restaurant to operate without a health permit.

Orvis said he didn’t know he needed a permit to operate the business.

When health officials visited Dandy’s on July 29 and asked Orvis to close the restaurant, he refused, according to a county memo. He also refused to sign a form stating that he understood health department regulations.

Orvis started shouting and all his customers left, said Pam Heeter, food program supervisor.

“He got up, put his arms behind his back and said, ‘Handcuff and arrest me,’ then his daughter started yelling, ‘My dad can have a heart attack, and I’m gonna blame you if he has a heart attack,”’ Heeter said.

Orvis, 69, said county health officials deliberately showed up during lunch hour and told him to lock the restaurant’s doors, without offering him a chance to talk.

“I really became irate. I lost it, and it didn’t seem to bother them at all,” he said.

After health officials left, Orvis filed for a permit with the health department, paying the $165 permit fee, plus a $165 penalty.

He also complained to County Commissioner John Roskelley and last week Orvis wrote a letter to the health department asking for a waiver of the $165 penalty.

That request was denied by Daryl Way, administrative manager for the Spokane Regional Health District.

The Spokane Board of Health passed a measure last December that requires businesses to pay a 100 percent penalty for permit applications made less than 14 days prior to opening.

Because Orvis had operated the restaurant for seven months without a permit, he was in clear violation of that measure, Heeter said.

Orvis is protesting the penalty, since he bought the restaurant in December of 1996, about the same time the new policy took effect.

Dandy’s has been a fixture on East Sprague for decades, but has changed hands several times in the last few years.

Orvis estimates that the ordeal has cost him about $1,000 in lost revenue, and says he may just close the drive-in for good.

Health officials did not find Dandy’s in violation of any specific food handling measure.

Failure to obtain a permit can result in restaurant closure, but such instances are extremely rare in Spokane.

“It doesn’t happen, hardly ever,” said Heeter.

, DataTimes