The Grail may lose its liquor license

The Kootenai County commission is refusing to renew The Grail’s liquor license, saying the Huetter bar has repeatedly violated the law and become a nuisance.

The bar’s license doesn’t expire until March, so it can remain open until then. Commission Chairman Gus Johnson said The Grail can appeal the decision, which was based on a recommendation by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department.

Owner Lang Sumner wasn’t available for comment Tuesday. A man who answered the bar’s telephone said the owners are in Las Vegas at a nightclub-bar convention and won’t return for two weeks. Sumner’s attorney, Susan Weeks, didn’t return phone calls.

The county’s refusal to renew the liquor license comes just four days after The Grail lost its fight to keep its restaurant endorsement. That meant that The Grail is no longer open to anyone under legal drinking age.

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said deputies didn’t get any calls regarding The Grail over the New Year’s holiday, which is one of the biggest party nights of the year.

That’s a stark contrast to the more than 400 calls the sheriff’s department has received in the last three years. Wolfinger said that number doesn’t include calls from neighbors with complaints about noise, public urination and fights.

“We haven’t even had a call in Huetter since then,” Wolfinger said. “I guess that kind of tells the tale.”

The Grail was the only one out of the 313 businesses with liquor licenses in Kootenai County to get a denial recommendation from the Sheriff’s Department.

In a Dec. 7 letter to the commission, Wolfinger wrote that The Grail “fraudulently obtained and fraudulently maintained” the restaurant endorsement and that the county won’t “tolerate abuse of the license privilege.”

“The deception cannot be tolerated as it undermines those legitimate businesses as well as makes a mockery of the license requirement and responsibilities of those who choose to follow the rules,” Wolfinger wrote.

The commission signed a letter Tuesday notifying Sumner of the county’s refusal to renew The Grail’s liquor license and outlining several violations of Idaho law.

The commission contends that in July Grail employees overserved a man who was later involved in a head-on collision on Seltice Way. The letter states that Aaron K. Green was estimated to be driving 97 mph when the accident occurred and that he had a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit. The letter states that Green told investigators that Grail employees continued to serve him alcohol even though his companion had been cut off.

The commission’s letter also alleges that The Grail has served alcohol to underage people. It goes on to state that conduct at the bar has resulted in vandalism, fistfights, stabbings and gang activity, among other nuisances.

Authorities have complained The Grail attracts “gang-bangers” and troublemakers. An assault outside the club in 2003, which left one man dead, is often cited.

Johnson and the other commissioners declined to comment until the appeals process is complete.

Last week, Weeks, the owner’s attorney, said The Grail had filed an appeal regarding the loss of the restaurant endorsement. She said that authorities have treated The Grail unfairly and that other restaurants in the state have special events.

The nightclub has had “Fantasy and Fetish” nights and activities such as Jell-O wrestling. Authorities who argued The Grail is a bar, not a restaurant, have said that other businesses with a restaurant endorsement on their liquor license – like Applebee’s and Chili’s – don’t have male revues, foam parties or a cover charge for underage customers.

“There are restaurants and other facilities with liquor licenses with restaurant endorsements who do the same activities who haven’t had their restaurant endorsements removed,” Weeks said in an interview last week.