Broad Street bar slammed with seven-day license suspension

LYNN – Champion Bar & Grill on Broad Street will begin serving a seven-day suspension today for several violations including serving alcohol to minors.An appeal was not submitted for the suspension.Licensing Board Commissioner Richard Coppinger said representatives of the bar at 170 Broad St. appeared before the board on Feb. 26 to discuss the reported incidents, which mainly occurred when under 21 events were hosted.”We met with the owner, Mr. Li, and he voluntarily agreed to discontinue any under-21 events,” he said. “The two minors were served alcohol on New Year’s Eve, and managers said they marked x’s on the minors hands, but it’s possible that they could have washed them off.”Coppinger said the other violations include a couple of disturbances when crowds from the bar spilled into the streets and started fighting.Due to the recent problems involving minors, the board is considering changing the rules regarding under-21 events that would require bars and clubs to continue serving food up until 1 a.m. when minors are present.”The law becomes blurred at several different establishments at night,” he said. “They serve food in the early evening but, when they turn into nightclubs, they often stop and they shouldn’t be.”Under the new law, Coppinger said minors would have to be served soft drinks by a bartender only and not be allowed to have table service.Also, if bars or clubs plan on holding an under-21 event, they would be required to notify the board seven days beforehand for an inspection and follow up.Coppinger said the law department is reviewing the new regulations, however it was ruled that the board couldn’t ban bars from hosting under-21 events.Discount Liquors at 3 Market Square was also penalized with a three-day suspension for selling alcohol to an 18-year-old minor in January.An attorney for the store has since filed an appeal on the ruling.”They were supposed to start serving the suspension today, but now the appeal will now be heard by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC),” he said.Two other bars, The Lazy Dog and Rolly’s Tavern were issued warnings for remaining open past the 1 a.m. closing time on Jan. 13.”Both places have pretty good past histories,” he said. “So we had them explain what happened and tell us what they could do to prevent the problem from happening again.”The next board meeting scheduled is on March 25 at 6:30 p.m.