BOC denies 3 beer, wine licenses

Madison County commissioners denied beer and wine licenses for three county convenience stores Dec. 3 — Kwik Chek on Hwy. 29 in Hull, Neese Grocery on Hwy. 106 and Country Superette on Hwy. 29 north of Danielsville.

Meanwhile, 12 beer and wine licenses at other stores were renewed.

County commissioner Stanley Thomas raised the first objection to a license renewal, citing concerns about Kwik Chek. The former owner of the store Shafiq Muhammad was arrested in August on two counts of fraudulent entry on a voter registration card. That same month he was charged with battery under the Family Violence Act and cruelty to children in the third degree.

The next month a new owner for Kwik Chek appeared before the BOC asking for a beer and wine license continuance.

Thomas said the paperwork for the application was shoddy.

“The application had wrong dates, misinformation, false information, and it appeared that the residency (of the new owner) was for (the previous owner) who has some legal issues and a true bill has been presented to him by a grand jury which if it goes through means he could no longer have a beer and wine license,” said Thomas.

The commissioner said that county ordinances give the BOC authority to deny an license request if the applicant doesn’t appear to have a sufficient financial interest in the business or if he or she appears to be a “surrogate” for someone else.

“Basically if somebody is fronting for somebody, we have the right to deny that,” said Thomas.