LaPorte board recommends denying transfer of package-liquor permit for proposed Trail Creek store

The LaPorte County Alcoholic Beverage Commission on June 4 recommended denying a transfer of a package-liquor permit that would allow a new packaged-liquor store at 2134 E. U.S. Highway 20 in Trail Creek.

Christopher Willoughby, town attorney for Trail Creek, told the board that surveyor maps and ATC records submitted as remonstrator exhibits show the property sits inside Trail Creek and that Indiana Code 7.1-3-22-5 allows only one package-liquor license per roughly 8,000 residents in an incorporated town. "By virtue of the existence of their other license, this one cannot exist," Willoughby said, leaving copies of the surveyor's map and statute with the board.

Applicants' attorney Joseph Zaknin said his clients purchased a permit that ATC listed as available for Trail Creek and invested in the Hammers property with the understanding the permit was valid. "They invested nearly $1,600,000 in acquiring the Hammers property, and they spent close to $700,000 to improve the property," Zaknin said, urging the board to recommend transfer or allow the ATC to resolve any classification issue.

Local residents and property owners opposed the transfer at the hearing. Robin Oshinsky, who identified herself as a property owner in Evergreen Plaza, recounted that the Trail Creek license has existed historically and said residents were surprised by the new permit application. Remonstrators presented a petition labeled remonstrator exhibit 2 that the applicant said contained roughly 247 signatures collected the previous day; the board accepted the petition into the record.

Board members debated whether the existing Trail Creek store's permit had been listed under a Michigan City address in earlier records and acknowledged that the local board's vote is a recommendation. "Our vote here today is not in favor of one or the other just so everybody understands," the board's presiding officer said, noting the recommendation will go to the ATC for final determination and that the ATC meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

After discussion, a motion to recommend denial of the location transfer was made and seconded; the board recorded the motion as carried by voice vote. The board instructed staff to forward the remonstrator exhibits and related documents to the ATC for its review; the matter is likely to appear on the ATC's agenda in early July.

The board's recommendation does not finalize the permit. Either party may pursue remedies at the ATC and, ultimately, through appeals in higher tribunals if the state decision is contested.