Tampa council suspends Grand Cathedral Cigars alcohol sales for seven days after hearing on patio service

Tampa City Council voted Jan. 25 to suspend the alcoholic beverage privileges tied to the permit for Grand Cathedral Cigars, at 221 North Florida Avenue, for seven days beginning Feb. 12, after a public hearing on a city notice of intent that the bar had sold and allowed consumption of alcohol outside the area authorized on its site plan.

City attorneys presented evidence including sworn testimony from a private investigator and city staff to support the charge that alcohol was sold and consumed on the business’s patio area that the council-approved site plan designates “no alcohol sales allowed.” The legal department said that the suspension is authorized by Land Development Code section 27-318, and that the council may suspend an alcoholic beverage permit where an establishment operates in a manner that repeatedly creates “negative secondary effects” on surrounding property or otherwise violates conditions placed on approval.

The city’s attorney, Susan Johnson Velez of the legal department, urged council to weigh the code criteria and said witnesses would show the patio had been used for sales and consumption in conflict with the site plan. "There were sales on the patio and the evidence will support that," Johnson Velez said during the hearing. The city also introduced a development coordination manager and a sworn Tampa Police officer who described notice and service steps for the hearing.

Attorney Mark Bentley, representing Ybor City Grand Cathedral LLC (doing business as Grand Cathedral Cigars),…