Calcasieu jurors deny local liquor permit, vote to oppose state application for Caddyshack bar

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury voted 13-0 Thursday to deny a local liquor-and-beer permit application for Caddyshack Ice House LLC and to adopt a resolution opposing a related state application to the Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control board.

The votes were on two related agenda items: a motion to deny local approval for the applicant’s permit (moved by Police Juror Christopher Landry, seconded by Police Juror [Mister] Steli) and a motion to adopt a jury resolution opposing a state application for the same business (moved by Landry, seconded by Police Juror [Mister] Hayes). Both motions passed 13-0.

The jurors’ decisions followed a lengthy presentation from counsel laying out the location’s regulatory history and several public comments from neighbors who said the business’s late-night operations have disturbed the area.

Counsel told jurors the location previously operated under a 2024 local permit at 7795 Lake Street that the state later reviewed and found did not meet the state’s restaurant classification standard (a restaurant permit requires more than 50% of sales from food). The state investigator’s report in the meeting packet found alcohol sales exceeded food sales and the state did not renew that 2024 classification. Counsel said the owner then subdivided the site, added a dividing wall and created a new address, 7793 Lake Street, and the same owner has now applied to the parish for a permit tied to the new address. The parish also has a zoning rule that bars a “bar” within 300 feet of a residence, the counsel said, and jurors may consider the location’s history when deciding whether to approve the new local permit.

Adam Johnson, an attorney representing the owners, urged the jury not to deny the application. “We did everything we could to address [complaints],” Johnson said. “We hired private security, we hired additional staff to model the parking lot, and as soon as those were raised, we immediately began construction on a new parking lot.” He said the owners removed “a hundred thousand dollar putting green” and “built a $25,000 wall,” and that they reclassified and reapplied with the state after being told by parish staff what changes were required.

Neighbors and other residents urged denial. “This is every single weekend at our house,” Toby Hagen, who said he lives at 7810 Lake Street, told the jury. “Starting Thursday night, then Friday night, Saturday night, until 3, 4, 05:00 in the morning, your walls and windows are shaking from the outdoor DJ’s amplified bass … gunshots, hollering and screaming, underage kids drinking alcohol.” He told jurors the neighborhood has recorded dozens of calls to the sheriff’s office related to the location.

Jim Klebsick, who said he lives about a quarter mile from Lake Street, told the jury he can hear both the noise and “gunfire” and that changes in hours alone would not resolve his concerns.

Police Juror Eason (recorded in the meeting as Miss Eason) said the business “has become a nightclub on airport property,” raising concerns about the airport’s public funding and other stakeholders near the site. Counsel and others noted an addendum to the airport lease contemplates operation as a bar, but jurors repeatedly emphasized neighborhood impacts in their discussion.

The jurors also heard that the owner had requested an ATC (Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control) reclassification and that the state had placed certain matters on hold while the local process proceeded. Counsel noted the parish may submit a petition to the ATC opposing issuance of a state permit; the jury’s adopted resolution does exactly that and will be forwarded to the ATC.

The roll-call votes were unanimous on both items: 13 jurors in favor, none opposed. The parish clerk recorded the motions as: (1) a motion to deny local approval of the applicant’s liquor-and-beer permit application (motion carried), and (2) a motion to adopt a resolution opposing submittal of the state application to the Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control board (resolution adopted). The transcript shows the clerk read the roll call for each motion and recorded 13–0 tallies.

What happens next: The jury’s resolution opposing the state application will be transmitted to the Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control board; the applicants may pursue state review or court remedies on state decisions, and the parish retains authority over its local permitting and zoning enforcement. The jury also discussed—and Johnson requested—a possible negotiated agreement (written conditions such as hours of operation, security staffing and automatic revocation language) as an alternative to denial, but jurors voted to deny and to oppose the state application at Thursday’s meeting.

The record includes the counsel’s summary of the ATC’s prior investigation, the owner’s expenditures to reconfigure the site, residents’ accounts of repeated disturbance calls, and jurors’ unanimous decisions to reject local approval and to lodge a formal objection with the state.