License validity being questioned
Pub Date: 1/1/2006
The validity of two Great Falls area liquor licenses issued in 2002 have been called into question three years later.
County liquor licenses issued to the Gannon Ranch Golf Course and the Lucky Last Jump Casino may be revoked because they in fact lie within a five-mile radius of the City of Great Falls. The inexpensive county licenses must be located at least five miles from the nearest city limits.
The Montana Department of Revenue relies on county planning departments to document that a location qualifies for a county license or whether a more expensive and thus valuable city license is required.
In the two recent cases, the Cascade County Planning Department had certified the businesses were outside the five-mile "donut" by using a map and a ruler to calculate distances, a method that has sufficed in the past.
The revenue department, however, checked the distances more recently using Global Positioning Satellite technology and found the Lucky Last Jump, located at the Ulm interchange on I-15, was 4.86 air miles from the Great Falls city limit, while the golf course location was within 2.4 miles.
A March hearing has been scheduled to consider the matter. A hearings examiner with judicial powers will rule, but the department director, Dan Bucks, has authority to accept or over-rule the hearings examiner. Ultimately, the department head's decision can be appealed into district court.
A letter has been sent from attorneys representing casino owner Charles Niswanger to the Cascade County Commission notifying the county that there could be potential damages of $5 million if the license is revoked and the business shut down. Gaming machines could not be operated there without a valid all-beverage or beer and wine license.
Apparently, the problem surfaced when another license holder petitioned to have their county license recognized as a city license as a result of annexation changes. When state officials decided to check other area licenses, they discovered the discrepancies.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, Jan., 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.