Board Nixes Crash Cafe Proposal
Decision May Represent A Shift In Liquor Licensing Policy

By Mark J. Adams

The City Liquor Board last week unanimously voted to deny a liquor license to the Crash Cafe, a $5 million theme restaurant proposed for the Key Highway waterfront.

Although the decision was limited to a simple finding that there was no public need for a new restaurant license in South Baltimore, the outcome of the Crash Cafe case may signal a new direction for the Liquor Board, which was completely reconstituted last Winter by Governor Parris Glendening. Some community leaders and pundits had accused the previous board of having a laissez faire attitude towards license holder. The Crash Cafe case was the new board's first major decision on a disputed waterfront issue.

The Crash Cafe was planned as a disaster-themed restaurant and lounge. Developer Patrick Turner, in concert with businessmen Scott Robinson and Glenn Charlow, wanted to build a restaurant that would look like the aftermath of an airplane crash. The building would have the tail of a DC-3 protruding from its exterior, with manufactured smoke coming from its roof. The restaurant would show videos of Hollywood stunts while patrons dined on tapas, Spanish style hors d'ouevres. According to Turner's testimony, the cafe would have employed stunt men to entertain patrons during their meals. For example, Turner said, "somebody could fall off the balcony [during a stunt.]"

The unusual proposal was met with the immediate opposition of South Baltimore's network of established community groups, who this summer formed a coalition to respond to the influx of new bars and restaurants on Key Highway.

Most of the new establishments cater to younger patrons. The community groups mostly are made up of older residents with long tenure in the neighborhood. Although some of the community groups declined to take any stand on the Crash Cafe, none of them directly supported it and the hearing wag attended by representatives of virtually every grouse The conflict between generations was reflected in the makeup of attorneys for the contestants. Turner was represented by Curtis Baer, a fortyish C.P.A./ lawyer who had just completed an 8-year stint as a member of the Liquor Board. .The communities were represented by George L Russell, a former Circuit Court Judge and City Solicitor who is a legendary figure in the city's African-American community. Russell was the first minority member of the City Board of Estimates. He is a partner in the large law firm of Piper and Marbury. During a decades-long career in law and public service, he became widely known a quick-witted and relentless interrogator.

True to his reputation, Russell immediately attacked the Crash Cafe presentation. In introductory remarks, he asked for dismissal of the application because it was filed in Tumer's name, instead of the corporation's. After deliberating behind closed doors, the Board rejected Russell's motion by vote of 2-1. It was his only setback for the remainder of the hearing.

Turner, who has owned three bars and developed numerous housing and commercial projects in the harbor area, spoke at length about the Crash Cafe plan, amid barbs from Russell. In essence, he said that the establishment would contain a cocktail lounge with a tapas bar and a mezzanine area with "casual seating". The lounge would lead to a large dining room with smaller 6 to 8-seat private dining suites located on its sides. The establishment had 30 off-street parking spaces, Turner said. He added that his group planned to construct a 60-space garage and to use trolleys to convey patrons to and from downtown tourist areas. He also claimed to have "worked a deal" for parking on the nearby lot of Southern High School -a claim that was later refuted by Russell and Councilman John L. Cain (D, lst)

Turner contended that the establishment would be a restaurant -- not a bar, that it would have enough off-street parking to avoid conflicts with the neighboring residential area, and that entertainment offered in the cafe would not constitute live entertainment. The developers presented a number of mostly younger witnesses in support of their proposal and they submitted an elaborate petition which bore signatures from residents of surrounding streets. The younger witnesses said that they did not feel that the community organizations were representing their points of view.

Russell took issue with virtually all of Turner's claims. "How do you call a stunt man jumping off the balcony [something other than] live entertainment?" he asked. He produced a letter opposing the plan from the principal of Southern High School. Late in the afternoon he offered testimony from Cain, who said his staff was told by school officials that there was no deal with Southern High School for rental of parking spaces. During cross-examination, Turner had disclosed that he had spoken with an assistant principal of the school, who told him that he was free to discuss the matter with the school administration. Russell also cross-examined The caf‚'s chef, quoting from a book that described tapes as "finger foods" and appetizer teasers."

On the critical issue of public need and accommodation, Russell showed a map displaying 15 existing liquor licensees in close proximity to the Crash Cafe site. He asked all of the witnesses from the neighborhood whether they would "have adequate sources to buy whisky" if the application were denied. They unanimously agreed that there was no shortage of places to buy alcohol in the neighborhood.

Opponents presented their own petitions and said that the establishment would not be a restaurant.

• "This is not a restaurant, this is a large cocktail lounge," said Federal Hill Neighborhood Association's representative James Keat.
• "This is not a restaurant, this is a playground with alcohol," said Councilman Cain.
• "To me it is a big bar," said Joyce Bauerle, president of the Locust Point Civic Association. [Bauerle's spoke as an individual. Her group took no formal position on the dispute.]