January - Municipal Association of South Carolina

Communities (continued from page 1)
of the police, who worked with business licensing officials
to deny the renewal of the motel’s business license.
The motel was the first business license revoked by
Cayce, but officials recently have denied a license renewal
for a bar that has had a number of incidents involving
disorderly conduct and noise violations, Crowe said.
The bar was affecting the quality of life for its residential
neighbors, said John Sharpe, Cayce administrator. A
citizen who lived directly behind the bar testified the noise
level disrupted her family’s sleep and she feared violence
from the crowds gathered in the parking lot after hours.
“The city had made every effort to help the business to understand
the citations they were receiving and get them to
‘change their ways’ to avoid this action,” Sharpe said. “But
a year later and with little change, the business license
was revoked.”
That case currently is being appealed, Crowe added.
“Revoking a license can only be done in extreme circumstances,
after officials have built an extremely strong
case,” said MASC Executive Director Howard Duvall.
“Closing down a business must be done very carefully.
The rights of a property owner need to be protected.”
Instead, municipalities need to first “bend over backwards
to make sure businesses understand if they don’t clean up
their act, we will use the full force of the law to get you to
comply,” Duvall said.
SC Business Licensing Officials Association
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