Iowa City rejects another liquor license application

Chalk up 808 Restaurant & Nightclub as the latest downtown Iowa City bar to run afoul of the City Council.

The council voted 7-0 Tuesday night to deny the liquor license renewal application for the bar, 121 Iowa Ave.

The council's reason was the same given when denying liquor license requests from four other establishments in the past year: 808 had too many people under the legal drinking age cited by police for possessing alcohol.

These citations are known as a PAULA, and the council has been turning down liquor license applications from establishments with PAULA rates greater than 1.0 per officer visit over the course of a year.

808 had a 1.6 PAULA rate.

808 attorney Matthew Adam said no 808 employee has ever been cited for serving alcohol to someone younger than 21. Owner Robert Uchida said he takes underage drinking very seriously.

“I hope that the City Council doesn't see me as a purveyor of poisons” to minors, Uchida said.

Council member Connie Champion said it was another bar owner whose business has a high PAULA rate claiming he wasn't the problem.

“I think it's time for the bar owners to step up and control it,” she said.

808 can appeal the council's decision to the state's Alcoholic Beverages Division and keep selling alcohol in the meantime.

The council's PAULA policy has been challenged by some of the bars, and a ruling from the Alcoholic Beverages Division is expected this month.