Elgin’s Liquor Commission is preparing a formal complaint against the Gasthaus Zur Linde owner seeking to suspend or revoke their liquor license based on eight police calls at the North Grove Avenue restaurant over the last year.
Elgin Corporation Counsel Bill Cogley is preparing the complaint, but the Liquor Commission took more immediate action Wednesday by having Cogley draft an ordinance requiring Gasthaus to close an hour earlier, 1 a.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends, to help curb the disorderly conduct occurring at the business in the early morning hours.
The ordinance will also reiterate the restaurant, at 11-15 N. Grove Ave., needs to have 50 percent food sales and 50 percent in liquor sales every month to meet the liquor license requirements, Cogley said. Currently, 93 percent of Gasthaus’s sales are liquor, he said. The city asked the bar to update its January through June sales figures, but the owner declined to provide the information, he said.
City council members are expected to vote on the ordinance at an Aug. 26 meeting. If approved, the ordinance would take effect immediately.
Elgin police have reported numerous fights at the bar between 2 and 3 a.m. The latest incidents were reported on July 3 involving an aggravated battery using a knife, a July 24 battery report and a July 31 fight that started in the bar and spilled outside, Cogley said, citing police reports.
Participants in the fight were involved in a shooting on Ann Street a short time later, according to police reports. Police investigating one of the incidents requested security footage from the Gasthaus, but the owner refused and detectives had to get a search warrant for the footage, Cogley said.
Under the liquor license requirements, the bar must maintain order on the premises, Cogley said.
“It’s clear we have a late night issue here,” he said.
Gasthaus attorney Charles Muscarello, the son of owner Marco Muscarello, was present during the meeting and raised his hand to ask a question but was not recognized by the liquor commission during the meeting.
Later, Muscarello addressed commissioners and said he thought he was present to be part of the discussion. However, Mayor Dave Kaptain said the vote was taken and the commission is moving the ordinance forward.
“I see some bigger issues facing you down the road,” Kaptain told Muscarello.
Police calls to the bar increased when Gasthaus began staying open until 3 a.m., Elgin Police Commander Colin Fleury said. Other establishments with a 2 a.m. closing time do not have the same number of calls, he said. The extra hour attracts people who are leaving other bars to Gasthaus where already intoxicated people end up drinking more, he said. The earlier closing may help curb incidents at Gasthaus, Fleury said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
