Nobody wants to win the W. Mississippi bar wars

July 1, 1:38 AMDenver Community Issues ExaminerRichard Taylor

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You would think that parties in a legal proceeding would try their hardest to win their case. An unusual liquor license hearing took place on June 17 and it seemed neither side wanted to win.

Ester Diaz applied for a dance cabaret license for her El Forajido bar and restaurant at 1733 W. Mississippi Avenue. As the applicant, Mrs. Diaz gave testimony as to why she wants to have live music and dancing at her establishment. Mrs. Diaz speaks limited English and needed to have translation. It seemed by her testimony and its translation she desires the license to get more customers into her bar. She was cross examined by Bob Dill, the attorney for the protestants. (Protestants in Colorado liquor license hearings are those who oppose or protest an application, not to be confused with the followers of a sixteenth-century religious movement.) She was asked for the square footage of her dance floor and was uncertain whether it was 600 or 144 square feet. When asked what about the legal occupancy of the bar, she did not know if it was 100 or 400 people. It's not good not to know those details.

The protestants had their chance to testify. The opposition consisted of Alfredo Godoy, the owner of the El Sinaloense at 1750 W. Mississippi Avenue, its property owner, Pablo Duran, and one its bartenders, Diana Martinez. Under cross examination by applicant's attorney Jim Beimford, it became clear that their only reason to oppose the application was competition from across the street.

Most of the time of a liquor license hearing is taken up trying to determine the needs and desires of the surrounding neighborhood. "The granting or denial of a beverage license depends on the record made by an applicant before the local licensing authority and must show prima facie the desires and reasonable requirements of the neighborhood. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Nat'l Tea Co., 149 Colo. 80, 367 P.2d 909 (1962)." C.R.S 12-47-301.

The only good testimony at the hearing came from nearby resident Oscar Ortiz who simply stated that he wanted a new place to go dancing. The hearing lasted nearly three hours and Mr. Ortiz's two-minute testimony may have been all that was required to get a license for El Forajido.

Hearing officer Kimberley Chandler made a recommended decision to  Director of Excise and License Awilda Marquez who will make the final decision later this week.