The Silver Beach Hotel is one of three businesses across the state that have had their liquor licenses and permits suspended for multiple violations of the current Emergency Order issued by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. They join businesses in Houghton and Lakeview on the suspended list.
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission has issued emergency suspensions of the liquor licenses and permits held by all three of the businesses for violations including:
- Allowing non-residential, in-person gatherings
- Providing in-person dining
- Failure to require face coverings for staff and patrons
- Failure to prohibit patrons from congregating
Attorney General Dana Nessel says, “This pandemic has taken a toll on all of us – from schoolteachers and students to frontline workers and caregivers, we are all feeling the effects of COVID-19. Business owners are no exception.” However, she says, “The state has an obligation to protect the public health and welfare, and the emergency public health orders and the associated closures are needed to save lives. My office is working closely with the Commission as it exercises its duties and we are prepared to act to ensure the state upholds its responsibility to protect the lives of our residents.”
MLCC Commissioners ordered emergency suspensions of the liquor licenses and permits held by:
- ASJJ Hotel Properties, Inc. doing business as the Silver Beach Hotel located at 100 Main Street in St. Joseph. The Commission issued an emergency suspension order of the B Hotel License with a Specific Purpose Permit (Food), Sunday Sales (P.M. Permit), and Dance/Entertainment Permits on December 1, 2020. The hotel is scheduled to appear before an Administrative Law Judge on December 11, 2020, for a virtual hearing via Zoom, to determine whether the summary suspension should continue, or other fines and penalties should be imposed.
- Chapz Roadhouse, located at 9950 N. Greenville Road in Lakeview. The Commission issued an emergency suspension order of its Class C, and Specially Designated Merchant (SDM) liquor licenses, and Sunday Sales (P.M.) Permit on November 25, 2020.
- KMPD, Inc. doing business as the Rock House/Mine Shaft located at 915 Razorback in Houghton. The Commission issued an emergency suspension order of the Class C and SDM liquor licenses with a Specific Purpose Permits (Food and Bowling), Outdoor Service Area Permit, Sunday Sales (P.M.) Permit, Extended Hours Permit, Additional Bar and Dance-Entertainment Permits, on November 25, 2020.
Both Chapz Roadhouse and the Rock House/Mine Shaft are scheduled to appear before an Administrative Law Judge on December 4, 2020, for a virtual hearing via Zoom, to determine whether the summary suspension should continue, or other fines and penalties should be imposed.
Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs Director Orlene Hawks says, “The Commission’s Enforcement team is working diligently to ensure that licensees are compliant with the MDHHS most recent Gatherings and Face Mask Order which took effect on November 18, 2020, and remains in effect until December 8, 2020,” and adds, “Any licensed establishment that is in violation of the MDHHS emergency order will be held strictly accountable and risk suspension or revocation of its license.”
Since September of 2020, the MLCC has suspended liquor licenses of an additional six establishments located in Newaygo, Fremont, Fenton, Muskegon Heights, Conklin, and Grand Rapids for violations of the emergency and executive orders due to the pandemic.
The department says licensees are strictly prohibited from allowing indoor gatherings, as defined by the state’s Gatherings and Face Mask Order, on their licensed premises. Further, those prohibited gatherings held without requiring patrons to wear face masks pose an immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Allowing such activity to continue could create additional outbreaks of COVID-19.
All licensees must not only comply with the MDHHS Orders, but also local health department orders, and local ordinances regarding reduced occupancy rates and social distancing protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MDHHS officials say that to date, there have been more than 366,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Michigan, resulting in more than 9,300 deaths, and that Michigan’s COVID-19 daily death average has quadrupled in the last five weeks. Hospitalizations are continuing to rise. The MDHHS November 15, 2020 Order states that the recent “sharp rise in new [COVID-19] infections suggests that the state is entering the most challenging phase of the pandemic thus far” and that “the COVID-19 pandemic continues to constitute an epidemic in Michigan.”
