Hamilton council approves retail liquor license for Blacktop Restaurant after public hearing

Hamilton City Council on an unspecified date approved a restaurant retail liquor license for Blacktop Restaurant LLC, 1717 State Highway 17, after a public hearing in which neighbors and a nearby church raised concerns about distance, parking and drink monitoring.

The license was granted after council members moved and seconded the motion to approve following the public hearing. Councilmember Ross moved to approve the license; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote, as recorded in the meeting transcript.

The approval followed statements from an applicant representative who said Blacktop Restaurant is family owned, will comply with the ordinance requirements and plans restrictions on alcohol service. “We are family owned and operated…we are going to have a cap on the amount of drinks,” the applicant representative said, adding that staff aged 21 or older will make alcoholic drinks and that servers 18 or older may serve but not prepare drinks. The applicant representative said the business is not “a full blown bar” and that staff will monitor tables and refuse service to anyone appearing intoxicated.

Representatives of a nearby church raised concerns about proximity and parking. A church representative noted that property boundaries and customer parking could create issues for the church, saying the congregation will “have to be a little bit more protective over the property and to make sure that nothing is done on their property.” The transcript shows a dispute over distance measurements but records that both sides accepted that the nearest distance exceeded the 200-foot rule cited in the hearing.

City staff confirmed the applicant “has met all requirements as set forth in the ordinance” and said measurements show the restaurant exceeds the 200-foot minimum distance from the church. The transcript includes discussion about how the distance is measured (nearest exterior wall, straight line) and competing measurements from Google Maps and parties on site; participants agreed the measured distance met the cited rule.

The council closed the public hearing and then voted to grant the license. The meeting record does not include a roll-call vote tally in the transcript provided.

The council also discussed that if parking spills onto church property the restaurant and its customers should avoid using the church lot.

The council included the license on its consent/regular agenda and approved it after the hearing. No additional conditions beyond compliance with ordinance requirements are recorded in the transcript.