Jumping through hoops

RATHDRUM - Sheree Greenfield knew she had to move fast when she finally was issued the liquor license for Rathdrum she had waited on for years, and eventually given up on.

The former owner of O'Malley's took a lesson from the owner of a license in Coeur d'Alene, and met the strict requirements of Idaho's Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau to put hers to work quickly after it was issued.

"I opened one hour before my three months was up," Greenfield said. "That's how close it was."

Greenfield and her boyfriend/partner Kelly Chadderdon are former owners of O'Malley's, just across Highway 53 from their new bar in the Westwood Plaza. They added O'Malley's in May, 1998, and waited.

And like so many others, they continued to wait until the city grew enough for them to get one of the licenses issued for each 1,500 increase in population. By the time they got it, they had given up and sold O'Malley's to Terry Eastman.

Last year their license came through and the scramble was on to open in the time allotted by rules that went into place three years ago, giving them 180 days to open for business, with a 90-day extension available.

"We had to quickly find a place to do it," Greenfield said.

The law requires operation of the bar for at least six months, but the license cannot be sold for two years.

Greenfield took a page from the playbook of the owners of the license at Aubrey's House of Ale in Riverstone. There, owner Daniel Fuchs installed his license in an office hidden from easy view, but in time to meet the deadline.

Seeing that, Greenfield decided there was no need for an elaborate bar with an array of amenities. In the past couple of years, the two applicants ahead of her on the list had not been able to open in time, and forfeited their chance.

"I looked at it like I would never have this opportunity again," she said. "I didn't think about doing something like this."

"This" is Kelsey's Bar, a tiny space, only 328 square feet in size, in which she was able to create a cozy atmosphere for couples and others.

Somewhat ironically, she and Chadderdon are licensed as O'Malley's Sports Pub & Grill, as that was the name they put on the license list.

"I'm the only employee," Greenfield said. "I'm surprised at how well it went."

Not so for Fuchs, who is engaged in a legal battle with ABC.

"They are trying to revoke the liquor license (at Aubrey's), said Brian Donesley, attorney for Fuchs. "They are saying we have not used it good enough."

Fuchs also has a case pending in Twin Falls, because the agency removed his name from the waiting list.

"They said he could be on the list only one time, and he was on several times," Donesley said.

Attempts by The Press to reach officers at ABC were not successful, due to missed phone calls at both ends. ABC has previously said the reason for changing the rules was to discourage speculation and put the licenses to work generating tax revenue.

Donesley said the state is acting arbitrarily in making the action against Fuchs retroactive. The cost to get on the list is $375, which is refunded if the license is not accepted.

Most of the licenses that became available in Kootenai County in the last couple of years were returned because the recipients could not act quickly enough.

"It is terribly wasteful," Donesley said. "It is important for economic development. Let me put these licenses to use. It will create jobs, and sales taxes."

For now, Fuchs is awaiting a ruling on the Aubrey's license before deciding what he can do with it.

Another Riverstone establishment that got caught up in the rule changes of 2007 was Azteca. When it opened in 2007 it thought it would be able to take on the license owned by Fuchs and placed at Paddy's. The rule changes came before construction was done, and it is now on the waiting list - more than 20 spots below others who have been on the list for more than a decade.

In recent months, a couple of licenses have come available to owners of existing bars. Whether they will be able to place their new license in those bars and sell the "seasoned" license is unclear.

"It is amazing the hoops they make you jump through," said Carla Barajas, a partner in Azteca.

The value of a license is negotiable, and depends on the city it is in. They are issued for a specific city and cannot be moved to another, so a license that might not be in six digits in Post Falls is worth much more in Coeur d'Alene.

The last one sold in the Lake City went for $250,000, said T.W. Fisher, who got his license by waiting since April, 2000 and was able to open Club 41 in Post Falls in January.

That is an incentive for those who do hold the few licenses in Coeur d'Alene to wait for the economy to rebound, Barajas said, so she knows they will have to pay dearly if they can get one.

"We crunched the numbers long and hard," Barajas said. "For my restaurant and location, it would be an asset. It's horrible economics to be making that big a capital purchase (the restaurant) then wait 15 years."