El Paso County Commission renews Spirit's House Liquors license after two sale-to-minor violations

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to renew the retail liquor store license for Sida Liquors Inc., doing business as Spirit's House Liquors at 6 Whitefield Boulevard in Commissioner District 4.

The renewal followed testimony from the applicant and the store's attorney that two sale-to-minor violations occurred before the current owners took full operational control, and that the employees involved are no longer working at the store. Attorney Vince Linden described the earlier incidents during the board's review and said the owners have installed a point-of-sale scanning system that requires a physical, scannable government ID for every alcohol sale so the register cannot be manually overridden.

The county attorney's office reported that the state had investigated and penalized the licensee for the second violation, including a fine and a four-day state suspension. Senior county attorney Terry Sample told the commission she and clerks had consulted with the state enforcement director and a county law enforcement sergeant, and that the state found the earlier state-level penalties satisfied the enforcement concerns.

Why it matters: The renewal balances public-safety concerns about underage alcohol sales with the fact the state enforcement process was applied and the licensee committed to technical controls. Commissioners said they wanted to see strict adherence to the new system and made clear any future violation would put revocation squarely on the table.

Board discussion and motions: Commissioner Applegate moved to renew the license for Citadel Liquors Inc. d/b/a Spirit's House Liquors; Commissioner Williams seconded the motion. The roll call recorded votes by Commissioner Wysong (aye), Commissioner Nelson (aye), Commissioner Applegate (aye), Vice Chair Williams (aye) and the chair (aye). The motion passed 5-0.

What the applicant pledged: Attorney Linden and licensee Bedur Bhatari told the commissioners the store has invested in a point-of-sale system that will require presentation of a physical, scannable ID to complete any alcohol sale and will not allow a manager override. Linden said the store had invested about $700,000 in the business and was prepared to terminate any employee who violated alcohol laws. Licensee Bhatari told the commission “we all knows … it will not happen” again and that family and non-family employees had been trained.

County response and conditions: Commissioners pressed for operational certainty. Vice Chair Williams said she expected the ID-scanning protocol to be used for every sale and stated she would not support renewal if violations continued. County staff noted the license was not eligible for an abbreviated administrative renewal because the second violation made this matter subject to board review.

Next steps: The license was renewed for this location only; county staff and the county attorney clarified that other licenses owned by related parties in separate jurisdictions (City of Colorado Springs) were not before the county and were unaffected by this renewal.