On April 7, popular Champaign restaurant Bar Louie, 510 E. John St., finished serving a week-long suspension of its liquor license. The establishment was found to be in violation of its Class R-1 license, which stipulates that only 40 percent of quarterly revenue can be from alcohol sales.

Affidavits supplied to the City of Champaign indicated that this percentage had been exceeded during recent quarters. A hearing is scheduled for April 16, at which point the license could be revoked entirely.

When reached for comment, Bar Louie General Manager Cole McCulloch explained that it was a misunderstanding that led to the recent suspension, and that the restaurant never actually violated the terms of its license.

“It was an internal problem with our corporate office,” McCulloch said. “Our sales are actually correct for our license. … We haven’t violated it in the past, so we don’t anticipate any problems at all in the future.”

McCulloch indicated that corporate personnel produced incorrect numbers, and that the problem had nothing to do with the restaurant chain’s Champaign location.

City officials agreed that there was a misunderstanding, but suggested that Bar Louie did in fact violate its liquor license in the recent past.

“They actually violated the terms of their license for one of the quarters in question,” said Laura Hall, assistant city attorney.

She explained that while some of the information supplied to the city erroneously reported violations that did not occur, there was a problem on at least one occasion.

Despite this, Hall stated that a revocation of the restaurant’s license is probably unlikely.

“The license holder has the right to a hearing,” Hall said. “They have the right to present mitigating evidence, so a revocation or suspension is not something that happens automatically.”

Bars and restaurants can also be fined for minor infractions – generally $500 for the first violation and $1,000 for the second. The fees escalate with each subsequent problem, and different licenses have different terms.

Bonnie Smith, clerk in the City Manager’s office, said these liquor licenses are granted under a restricted city ordinance that limits the number of businesses that can be licensed by the city. Only 60 Class A (bar) licenses can be granted, all of which are currently in use. There may be a lottery for individual licenses as they become available in the future, but it is unclear when this will occur.

“Other types of licenses are not limited by the city,” Smith indicated. There is a rigorous application process, however, involving a $500 fee, numerous legal and insurance documents, copies of the business’ floor plans and even a photo of the building’s exterior.

While restaurant licenses, such as the one held by Bar Louie, are not limited in number by Champaign law, a revocation of such a license would be extremely serious due to the difficulty involved in acquiring one.

“Usually it’s a situation where they pay a fine, though,” Hall said. “We deal with things on a case-by-case basis. It’s a discussion with the bar or restaurant. … (Bar Louie’s) was only a temporary suspension.”

If the city intends to revoke a business license, the mayor’s office would have to issue a notice stating as much, Hall said.

Bar Louie has been very cooperative with the city of Champaign, however, so this would probably be unlikely.

For now, perhaps the first issue that needs to be resolved is whether a violation actually occurred or not.

“Our corporate office produced incorrect numbers,” McCulloch said. “That’s all it was. The problem doesn’t involve our Champaign store at all.”