Well the city of Boulder lost in the Colorado court of appeals in it’s effort to regulate when a restaurant could serve liquor.
The city of Boulder can’t tell a local restaurant to stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m., the Colorado Court of Appeals announced today.
In a unanimous, three-judge decision, the court ruled that the owners of Thunderbird Burgers on University Hill are not subject to a city Planning Board decision last year that the business could stay open until 2 a.m., but must stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m.
The bar sued, arguing that only the state may regulate the hours liquor may be served.
Since this was an appeals court, obviously the city had already lost the original case. Blame it on city attorney Jerry Gorden.
At the city attorney‘s urging, the City Council voted to appeal, but the decision this week means the bar can continue to sell alcohol until 2 a.m.
It’s great to see a micromanaging tool taken away from the city. Kudo’s to the owners of Thunderbird for not taking this lying down. I’ll have stop by and enjoy a burger at Thunderbird as a show of support. I surely hope they are “carding” everyone as there is more than one way to prevent the sale of alcohol!
To the city: It’s tough managing Camelot isn’t it? Hopefully more small business owners will start fighting back against the long arms of the law. Vic’s coffee comes to mind!
The story just got posted, I’m sure the comments will be interesting!
