Liquor License

The owner of Club Twisted said Tuesday she closed the private club in Berkeley County because the building was condemned, not because of investigations that ensued after recent fatal stabbing and shooting incidents in the club's parking lot. Brandhl "Brandy" Boyd said she surrendered her state license to serve alcohol for the club at 5268 Williamsport Pike after the building, which she doesn't own, was deemed unsafe on Nov. 29  for human occupancy by...

Pennsylvania beer lovers will soon have more time to buy beer on Sundays under a bill that lawmakers approved with bipartisan support Wednesday and sent to the governor. The legislation, which originally sought to create a liquor license for small Pennsylvania distilleries, was amended without fanfare in the Senate to include a potpourri of changes to the state liquor code. The Senate approved the amended version 40-9 and the House followed suit a short time later, 170-32. Gov. Tom Corbett plans to sign the bill, spokesman Gary Miller said.

A Texas Roadhouse restaurant could be coming to Franklin County, Pa., if land-development plans submitted to the Chambersburg Borough Council are approved. The council is expected to vote on the plans Oct. 24. On Monday, council members asked how the restaurant would affect the intersection of Gateway Avenue and Walker Road, specifically curbs and sidewalks in the area. “This is our problem, unfortunately, not Texas Roadhouse's problem,” Borough Manager Jeffrey Stonehill said.

Liquor store near HCC opposed Nearly a dozen people opposed a new liquor store proposed for Robinwood Drive near Hagerstown Community College during a hearing Wednesday before the Washington County liquor board. Sandy Abreau and Heriberto Hernandez were at the hearing before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County to seek a license to open D'Element Liquors at 11359 Robinwood Drive. Eleven people, some of whom were owners of existing liquor stores, spoke against the proposal.

The county liquor board Wednesday granted permission for the owner of Wolfe's on the Square, a former liquor, hardware and fishing supply store in downtown Williamsport, to transfer his liquor license. The Board of License Commissioners for Washington County voted 3-0 during a hearing at the liquor board office at 148 W. Washington St. in Hagerstown to give Jack Slick authorization to transfer the off-sale license to L&J Liquors. L&J Liquors of Williamsport LLC is owned by the Bowman Development Group of Williamsport, liquor board Administrator Vaun Miles said.

Washington County liquor officials want the public to know that business owners can’t sell their liquor licenses under any circumstances. Robert L. Everhart, chairman of the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County, said that the liquor board wanted the public to know because there’s a misconception among licensees that they can sell their license if the price is right. “A license is absolutely not sold,” Everhart said. “The only way to obtain a license is through the issue of a new license or the transfer of an existing one .... If you think you bought a license, someone told you wrong.” The issue was discussed during a public hearing Wednesday, when James Binau, owner of Old Orchard Liquors near Hagerstown, told the liquor board that he heard the liquor license of the former Wolfe’s on the Square in Williamsport was sold at public auction earlier this month.

Much of Wolfe’s on the Square sold at an auction — but not the property itself. Thomas Bikle of J.G. Cochran Auctioneers & Associates Ltd., which held Friday’s auction, said someone bid $220,000 on the property. Owner Jack Slick rejected that bid, so the sale wasn’t completed. “It’s worth a whole lot more than that,” Slick said Wednesday. Wolfe’s on the Square, at 1 W. Potomac St. in Williamsport, opened as a lunch counter in 1921. Slick recently closed the shop — which sold hardware, liquor and fishing supplies, among other things — after running it for 51 years.

Two Hagerstown business owners told the Washington County liquor board Wednesday that they recently decided to close their establishments for a variety of reasons. Ronnie Shaffer, owner of Shaff’s Pub at 422 Salem Ave., and Mike Fotta, co-owner of The Landing at 710 Dual Highway, said during separate hearings before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County that their decisions were prompted by the sluggish economy and other problems. Shaffer surrendered his liquor license to the board on Wednesday, saying that he was ready to close that day and might sell the property.

Growing up on Summer Street in Hagerstown's West End during the 1960s, Paul Sharrah remembers walking around the corner with his father and brothers to Corderman's Hardware, where the 7-year-old Paul stocked up on ammunition for his BB gun. Now, 46 years later, Sharrah still buys his hardware from the same family-owned shop, where clerks greet him by name and candy sells for 5 cents out of canisters near the register. But this summer, that will all change. Like a growing number of small business owners struggling under the dual pressure of a bad economy and competition from national chains, Paul Corderman, 67, has made up his mind to close.

The Woodpoint Grill in Hagerstown might have a prospective buyer only a few weeks after it closed. Woodpoint co-owner Douglas South said during a Wednesday hearing before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County that he wanted to keep his liquor license because it would make the business more attractive to a potential buyer. South said after the liquor board hearing that his real estate broker was talking to a local family who showed interest in buying the business, which closed April 2. He declined to give the family's name.