Judge won’t put off early halt to bars’ alcohol sales

A statewide rule prohibiting bars and restaurants from serving alcohol after 10 p.m. will remain in place after a Franklin County judge on Wednesday rejected a request to put a temporary hold on the mandate.

Common Pleas Judge Kim Brown denied a temporary restraining order requested by a group of Columbus bar and restaurant owners who filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Ohio Liquor

Control Commission’s emergency action imposed as a means of slowing the spread of COVID-19.

The ruling means Ohio’s bars and restaurants, which normally can serve alcohol for on-premises consumption until 1 or 2:30 a.m., must continue to abide by the emergency rule requiring sales to end at 10 p.m. and consumption by 11 p.m.

Brown said that limits on business operations imposed during the pandemic have been upheld by courts

around the nation and that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit is unlikely to succeed.

“The state’s latitude must be especially broad” during health emergencies, she said.

Brown issued the ruling after hearing about 90 minutes of arguments from attorneys for the bar owners and the state via Zoom video conference.

The bar and restaurant owners are suing Gov. Mike Dewine and the state Liquor Control Commission over the early end to on-premises alcohol service, which was imposed Friday by the commission at the governor’s request and is to remain in place for up to 120 days.

Dewine said the prohibition of alcohol sales after 10 p.m. at the businesses was necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19 because some taverns were failing to follow guidelines regarding social distancing and masks.

The lawsuit was filed by the same group of business owners who are challenging an ordinance approved by the Columbus City Council on July 27 that required bars and restaurants in the city to close by 10 p.m. A Franklin County judge granted the plaintiffs in that case a 14-day temporary restraining order on the city ordinance the following day.

The plaintiffs in both lawsuits include several well-known Columbus bars and night spots such as Pins Mechanical Company, 16-Bit Bar + Arcade and Late Night Slice.

The permit-holders argue that they already are struggling financially because of a state-ordered closure of the businesses during the early days of the pandemic, from mid-march to May, and that many won’t survive if the new rule is enforced.

Ed Hastie, attorney for the plaintiffs, told the judge that the COVID-19 pandemic “has crushed this industry.” He called the emergency rule “another nail in the coffin.”

The lawsuit argues that the rule is an arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional infringement on the ability of the bars and restaurants to do business.

The plaintiffs say in the lawsuit that Dewine, at a July 30 news conference, conceded that most permit-holders “are doing a phenomenal job” following the guidelines and that those who aren’t “are, in fact, outliers.”

The state has the power to take action against “the few bad actors,” Hastie said, rather than targeting the entire hospitality industry.

Marion Little, an attorney for the governor and the commission, said the state “is not unsympathetic” to the financial struggles of the plaintiffs, but the rule strikes “an appropriate balance” between keeping bars and restaurants open while “minimizing risk” to the public during the pandemic.

The state’s response to the lawsuit included an affidavit from a state liquor-control investigator who says that the sale of food at liquor-permit holders declines after 9 p.m., giving way to increased alcohol consumption and intoxication. The result, Little said, is a reduction in inhibitions for patrons, making them less likely that they will abide by safety restrictions such as social distancing. jfutty@dispatch.com @johnfutty