Dave's Stagecoach can keep its 3 a.m. license, the authoritative-sounding "Liquor Board" decided at a hearing this morning.
Jim Hess, co-owner of Dave's Stagecoach, tells The Pitch that the bar won the hearing today. But the fight to keep the 3 a.m. license might not be over. "They just won't turn loose of it," Hess says of the Westport Presbyterian Church and other neighbors who oppose it.
Hess says the Liquor Board "voted unanimously" to let Dave's keep its 3 a.m. license.
The Rev. Scott Myers of Westport Presbyterian says he believes the church will appeal the ruling, though the issue hasn't been discussed in detail.
Myers says church members believe that some of the consents given to Dave's
Stagecoach by
neighboring property owners aren't valid.
Hess, who owns Dave's Stagecoach with his wife, Joyce, also
clarified a point. Dave's Stagecoach isn't "expanding." They're just
adding a patio for smokers in the back.
"The neighbors, their contention is that we're going to make this big mega-bar
and have a nightclub and everything like XO," Hess explains, referring to the problematic and long-closed nearby bar. "That's not the case at
all. I have a seating capacity of 48, and XO could
hold 1,700. So I think you're comparing apples to oranges when you're
comparing my business to XO. ... I have no intention of doing that.
I've been down here 30 years; we've been in business over 50 years,
started in 1952. We don't have any liquor violations. The minister just
doesn't want the 3 a.m. licenses. Well, you know what? We're in an
entertainment district. Everything we did was legal. And they're just
going to fight it."
Hess notes that filing an appeal would cost
the church $1,300.
"It just makes me wonder, couldn't that money be better spent? I just think it's kind of foolish. They say they don't have any
problem with us, it's not anything we've done, they're just trying to
make their point. Well, it's kind of an expensive point to make. $1,300
would feed a lot of people or put clothes on them and whatever else."
Myers wouldn't say how much money the church is spending on the
challenges. He said it's not a financial issue but a quality of life
issue for the neighborhood. Myers said the the church doesn't have an issue with
Dave's Stagecoach but just doesn't want 3 a.m. bars in the Westport neighborhood.
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That a 1:30 license isn't enough!GREED is a sin!All religion should know that!They don't care about the crime it will cause or if you get a D.U.I.!!All they care about is filling their GREED pockets!Like these BAR OWNER don't have enough money!GREEDY!Thanks for watching over Westport PREACHER MAN!God BLISS!
What a bunch of MONEY GRABERS the BAR OWNERS are!GREED is a sin!!!All religion should know that!That a 1:30 AM license isn't enough!They don't care if you get a D.U.I!They just want your money!They want to cause MORE CRIME so they can feed their pocket!Like these BAR OWNERS don't have enough money!RIGHT ON PREACHER MAN!Thanks for looking out for Westport!God BLISS!
Whatever happened to the notion that churches should spend their time "saving" souls instead of glamming for the cameras? Admit it, preacherman. You lost, now go lick your wounds and return to your mission of worrying about what goes on inside the church ...
thank jaysus for davey's; i can continue my sacred late night ablutions...
the westport presbyterian church can go turtledove itself. as for the buncha nosey parkers pretending to be neighbors, to bed with ya: it's late!
We would like to thank everyone for their support of our business! Be sure and stop by for a drink - preferably between 1:30 and 3:00 am!!
I can understand why the neighborhood tried so hard to get XO/Evolution shutdown, that place was a train wreck every weekend and got really violent towards the end.
But going after Dave's? REALLY? What a bunch of assholes.
If they were holding church services at two o' clock in the morning, this might be a legitimate complaint. They're not.
Just more meddling from self-styled "Christians" who want to run everybody else's life to prove how pious they are. What a bunch of assholes.
"Myers said the the church doesn't have an issue with Dave's Stagecoach but just doesn't want 3 a.m. bars in the Westport neighborhood."
wtf? Aren't at least half the establishments in westport 3am bars? Are they going to close them all? I agree with the owner of Dave's - why do these people care how late the bars are open, especially since no one is causing any trouble? And the biggest pint of al is that this church is in WESTPORT -one of the main entertainment districts of Kansas City, and, I would say, the most authentic and locally owned. I think they should mind their own business and spend their money elsewhere - like, say, feeding some of the many homeless peole around that linger around their neighborhood.
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