[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Top Image” _builder_version=”3.10″ src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/five-points-feature.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Top Image caption” _builder_version=”3.10″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px”]<\/p>\n
Five Points Latitude 22 and Cotton Gin are within feet of each other, with Pinch and Lucky’s of Columbia nearby.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.10″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/cotton-gin.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.10″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Cotton Gin on Harden Street<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.10″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/latitude.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.10″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Latitude 22 on Harden Street, next-door to Cotton Gin, Pinch and Lucky’s of Columbia.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.10″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sylvan.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.10″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Sylvan and DuBose Jewelers sues four Five Points bars and the City of Columbia.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.10″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
A walk down Harden Street in Columbia\u2019s Five Points district reveals a row of bars separated by not much more than a few feet.<\/p>\n
South Carolina attorney, Dick Harpootlian, is seeking to reduce the number of bars \u2013even if it means shutting down some businesses.<\/p>\n
Harpootlian represents Bruce DuBose, the owner of Sylvan and DuBose Jewelers in his lawsuit against the Five Points bars Pinch, Lucky\u2019s of Columbia, Latitude 22 and Cotton Gin and the City of Columbia.<\/p>\n
Harpootlian contends in the suit that the operation of these bars hurts DuBose\u2019s business at 622 Harden St. and does not abide by city and state regulations regarding spacing and services offered.<\/p>\n
Section 6-6-1610 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act states that, except on Sunday, an establishment can sell liquor by the drink between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 a.m. the next morning if the establishment is \u201cbona fide engaged primarily and substantially in the preparation and serving of meals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of these establishments predominantly serve alcoholic beverages \u2026 and are assembled in unlawful concentration because none appear to be primarily engaged in preparing, offering, and serving meals,\u201d wrote Harpootlian in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
City of Columbia ordinance\u00a0\u00a7<\/strong>17-269 states that \u201cdrinking places shall not be located closer than 400 feet to any other lot used as a drinking place.\u201d<\/p>\n In the lawsuit, Harpootlian writes that \u201ccurrently, four drinking places are operating upon DuBose\u2019s doorstep in contravention of the zoning laws, compromising a cluster with less than 100 feet of separation \u2026 the City of Columbia systemically disregards and fails to enforce its own laws,\u201d and that \u201cthe systemic failure of the City to properly assess and enforce [the ordinance] has directly facilitated the onslaught of drinking places to take root within Five Points.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Harpootlian, Pinch, Latitude 22 and Lucky\u2019s of Columbia are all within 40 feet of each other, with the Cotton Gin just 90 feet away. He says these bars tend to attract crowds of young college students and mostly promote alcohol, rather than food, on their social media accounts.<\/p>\n Harpootlian says Five Points used to have more restaurants and retail shops, so Sylvan and DuBose Jewelers used to get a lot of walk-in business from people who were eating or shopping in the area. Now that the street is lined with bars that don\u2019t open until 10 p.m., Harpootlian says DuBose gets less business.<\/p>\n Harpootlian\u2019s plaintiff is \u201cseeking declaratory and injunctive relief,\u201d which essentially means DuBose would like to see the businesses he is suing cease operating in their current manner.<\/p>\n Harpootlian says he is not only concerned about bars being a nuisance to neighbors and businesses,but also \u00a0for USC students\u2019 academic lives.<\/p>\n \u201cShouldn\u2019t they [students] be going to class? Is college just a social phenomenon now? Or is it some academic requirement?\u201d Harpootlian said referring to the influx of college students who flock to Five Points bars and drink until the early morning.<\/p>\n Joe McCulloch, a South Carolina lawyer who represents, in his words, \u201cseveral restaurants and establishments\u201d in Five Points, some of which DuBose is suing, says that when Harpootlian filed his suit against the Five Points bars and the City of Columbia, he \u201cfiled it on the basis that there were several places that were drinking places, and that they were within 400 feet of each other and could not therefore exist.\u201d<\/p>\n McCulloch has filed a motion to have the case dismissed.<\/p>\n In the motion, he states:<\/p>\n The petitioner lacks standing to bring this action,<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason that they [the lawsuit] must be dismissed is [because] Mr. DuBose, the business person in Five Points, who is Mr. Harpootlian\u2019s plaintiff, does not have specific injury \u2026 he closes at six o\u2019clock, and the very businesses that he has sued don\u2019t open until six o\u2019clock or ten o\u2019clock or midnight,\u201d said McCulloch.<\/p>\n Standing, the first point in McCulloch\u2019s reasons for which the suit should be dismissed, means that a person who wants to sue has to have a particular injury specific to him.<\/p>\n McCulloch said that the bars he represents try to be the best public citizens and neighbors possible, and that they try to obey the law and serve customers responsibly.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trying to give back to the community through taxes, and they\u2019re finding themselves demonized and sued, when all they\u2019re really trying to do is get out of bed and go make a living,\u201d said McCulloch.<\/p>\n He also said that authority over laws regarding alcohol sits with the state and not individual municipalities, like the city of Columbia; therefore, the ordinance the city put in place is \u201cunlawful.\u201d He believes the city has invaded the state\u2019s control over alcohol laws, as he believes the authority lies with the general assembly and not the city council.<\/p>\n McCulloch added that if the city\u2019s ordinance is upheld, the effects would go much farther than just shutting down or moving some Five Points bars, noting that city and state revenues could be affected as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city, the state are suddenly making less income from sales taxes. People are losing their jobs. Land owners are suddenly not able to get their property rented,\u201d McCulloch said regarding what could happen if the ordinance isenforced.<\/p>\n He said if the city started to close down drinking establishments in Five Points, college students may have more house parties, and that they will only disperse rather than stop consuming alcohol. He said it is easier to police a mile-long strip of bars than it is to police drunk college students spread out all over the city.<\/p>\n According to McCulloch, people are hearing the loudest voices, meaning that the public is not hearing from the neighbors of Five Points who are content with the way Five Points is; rather, it\u2019s hearing from the disgruntled neighbors.<\/p>\n \u201cLife marches on. The people who would like to see the sleepy little Five Points Village that existed in 1970, I\u2019m sad to say they\u2019re going to have to move \u2026 to find that sleepy little corner, because it will never come back to Five Points any more than Main Street will ever return to the way it was in the \u201870\u2019s \u2026 any more than Forest Drive will be less busy \u2026 It\u2019s called progress, and it\u2019s called reality,\u201d said McCulloch.<\/p>\n McCulloch said part of the root of the college drinking culture in Five Points is due to the University of South Carolina\u2019s increasing enrollment rates. This in turn increases the volume of college-age people drinking into the early morning in Five Points.<\/p>\n Five Points bar and restaurant owners and managers in Five Points declined to comment to avoid media attention while the case is still open.<\/p>\n The City of Columbia declined to comment because it “does not respond to inquiries regarding pending litigation.”<\/p>\n Harpootlian was successful in his efforts to shut down The Roost, formerly Pour House, earlier this year when Judge Deborah Durden ruled that its temporary liquor license wouldn\u2019t be extended, as it did not offer enough food or have an adequate kitchen.<\/p>\n He says he expects a ruling on the case from Judge Durden in early August.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Five Points bars are still facing city and state ordinances that could affect their operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":11340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11337"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11358,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11337\/revisions\/11358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n