The owners of The Winning Circle may take the city to court to reclaim their business license or seek a new location after Poplar Bluff City Council members voted Tuesday to revoke its operating privileges for their current 120 N. 10th St. location.
Council members voted to revoke the license after reviewing information they said indicated the business was a nuisance and contributing to unsafe conditions in the neighborhood.
The owners, as well as landlords of the property, said the neighborhood itself is the problem, not the business.
The council was told the business would be well represented if they needed to take the matter to court to reclaim their license, also asking at the close of proceedings if they would be able to obtain a new license in a different location.
The new license would have to be taken up with the city manager, Mayor Steve Davis said.
In opening the hearing, he said the police department feels the location is a drain on resources, based on the number of calls.
He shared that year-to-date in 2023, the department had 19 calls for service to the location, including 10 dispatched and nine calls on-view. Officers have drawn five case files and made one arrest.
In 2022, there were 64 calls at The Winning Circle, including 34 dispatched and 30 on-view. Officers drew 13 case files and made seven arrests for a total of 22.5 man-hours.
Owner Drayden French said in some cases, those calls were made to report someone entering the business who had a warrant, after officers had asked the business to be alert for the individual.
The one arrest this year, French said, was an individual with a warrant which he reported after speaking with officers the day before. He said he felt obligated to call last week, even believing it could be reported as a call to the business.
“It was more important to me to see that person behind bars than for it not to show up on my call log,” said French, previously telling the council he had served for two years as a sheriff’s department deputy before opening his business.
Davis and council member Jerrica Fox presented information concerning a petition, saying more than 200 residents had signed the petition recently, asking for the business to be addressed.
The Winning Circle was given a 30-day probationary period starting Feb. 23 and was found by the city to have made no significant progress during that time.
“The petition that was received from the neighborhood says the reason the petition was started was because of the fast decline since The Winning Circle opened,” Fox said.
The petition further asked that the business be removed because it attracted customers who were “not good for the welfare of the neighborhood.” It stated that people had been seen consuming drugs on the property and other issues had arisen.
Council member Robert Smith, who spoke against revoking the licenses, said not everyone who signed the petition lived in the area.
He asked for a 90-day extension to see if additional security, improved lighting and changes to hours would make an impact.
His motion failed for lack of a second.
The council voted 4-1 to revoke the license, with Davis, Fox, and council members Barbara Horton and Chris Taylor in favor. Council member Shane Cornman recused himself due to a conflict of interest and was absent. Council member Lisa Parson was absent due to a medical issue.
Members of the business’s security company spoke on their behalf, saying no issues regarding fighting, drug use or assaults were occurring on the property.
Landlord Steve Wisdom and his mother Sheila Wisdom told the council the family has owned the property for more than 20 years, and the issues reported by the police department had always been a problem in the area.
“To cite things such as this as unusual, new or recent, I can tell you from first-hand experience, that definitely is not the case,” said Steve Wisdom.
The city is obligated to address the issue with so many people making complaints, including the petition and numerous calls to council members, Davis said.
“We’ve got to at least look at that as a potential problem,” he said.
French’s father, John French, said the council should consider the type of calls police were responding to and look at how many times the business was reporting incidents like the one his son mentioned occurring recently.
Both Horton and Fox shared they had received numerous calls over a period of several months, including some from residents Horton said would have been afraid to sign the petition or speak at council.
The business draws a lot of foot traffic in a residential area, Fox said, and often the people walking to the business are causing problems.
Smith asked how the city could hold the business accountable for problems that weren’t happening at their location.
“I just don’t agree with holding any business accountable for someone walking across their yard,” he said.
Many of the people who signed the petition expressing their concerns live nearby or operate businesses nearby, Fox said.
She wanted to see things get better but it hasn’t, and a more commercial area might be a better fit for the business, she said.