Liquor can keep flowing at Grail

Kootenai County commissioners said Friday they agree with law enforcement that a Huetter nightclub is a nuisance, but they won’t revoke its liquor license because the club has never received a citation.

“I would not want any of my family members to go there, but that’s not the point we’re here to discuss today. We’re here to discuss what the evidence was in the case,” Commission Chairman Gus Johnson said in a meeting to announce the commissioners’ final decision.

The Grail, located in the tiny town between Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, has been battling to keep its liquor license since January. That’s when the commission refused to renew the club’s liquor license because of what officials then said was a pattern of illegal acts and disruptive behavior from patrons and workers.

In hearings on the liquor license dispute, the county Sheriff’s Department had argued that the club caters to gang members and serves minors, and that complaints from neighbors have eaten up the department’s resources.

“I thoroughly believe what our police officers have to say 100 percent, but they did not issue any citations,” Commissioner Rick Currie said. “I do believe that The Grail was guilty, but some of that due diligence was not done.”

The Grail’s owner, Lang Sumner, said he felt vindicated by the ruling.

“There’s no tickets. Why? It’s not because we’re sneaky; it’s because we’re not doing anything wrong,” Sumner said.

Sheriff Rocky Watson said he was disappointed.

“We thought we had enough evidence. That’s why we asked for the license to be revoked,” Watson said. “But that’s why you have a review board.”

He said his department issues citations only as a last resort but will start forgoing warnings in favor of tickets.

“That was probably a tactical mistake. We probably should have started issuing them,” Watson said.

But the club’s history should be reason enough to revoke its license, he said.

“They’ve got stabbings, fights, murders. What else do you want out there?” the sheriff said, referring in part to a 2003 fight outside the club that left one dead, and to a drunken driving fatality last July in which the driver had just left The Grail.

But allegations of wrongdoing can’t be the sole reason to revoke a business’s license, Johnson said.

“There are things there that I think are happening but could not be substantiated in the record,” he said.

The renewal of the club’s liquor license does not renew its restaurant license, which The Grail lost in January. That means the club is open only to patrons 21 and older.

Sumner contests the food revocation, too, saying it’s another example of authorities unfairly targeting his business – a pattern, he claims, since the nightspot opened four years ago.

“We have been terrorized specifically by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s department,” he said.

Johnson said he hopes The Grail will take the threat of losing its liquor license as a reason to shape up.

“I think this will put The Grail on record,” he said. “They know that they’re going to be watched.”

Commissioner Katie Brodie was the only commissioner to compliment The Grail. “Really and truly, I think that your intentions are there to run a family establishment and do the best job that you can do with it,” she said.

“My only caution would be, give ‘em heck, run your business and proceed with caution,” Brodie said.

Currie said he would have liked to have imposed at least some type of punishment on The Grail.

“I would be open to something in the neighborhood of maybe a temporary suspension of that license and/or a minimal fine,” he said.

Sumner said he knows the battle with the city and county probably isn’t over but that he’ll continue operating The Grail the same way.

“It’s a clean, safe, fun environment,” he said.