An appeals court has agreed to renew Joseph Troutman’s liquor license for the Hotel Holley.
In a decision handed down last week, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has upheld the decision made by McKean County Judge Chris Hauser in 2017.
In 2017, Hauser overruled and reversed a decision by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which had declined to renew Troutman’s license for the Hotel Holley.
The board cited past violations at the establishment as a reason for its decision. Troutman, represented by attorney Greg Henry, had challenged the decision, saying the incidents had been in the past and the record since Aug. 1, 2015 had been greatly improved.
Hauser had cited in Troutman’s favor. The board appealed the decision to the Commonwealth Court, saying Hauser abused his discretion by failing to consider evidence of citations that occurred prior to 2015.
In an opinion released Jan. 24, Judge Michael Wojcik agreed with Hauser’s ruling.
“We note that the trial court, in its numerous findings, addressed every relevant citation, violation and incident,” Wojcik wrote.
He noted, too, that a judge may make findings in the case that differ from the board’s. Citing a case from Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania, the judge drew a parallel to Troutman’s situation. In that case, a licensee had taken substantial steps to correct a problem at his establishment, but was denied a license renewal by the board.
In both cases, Wojcik said, the trial court had not failed to consider the earlier citations against the establishment, but had “made its own findings and conclusions about the significance of the licensee’s citation history” which is permissible under the law.
The judge said Hauser had properly weighed the citations and the improvements made, and upheld his decision.
In the facts of the case, Wojcik had mentioned physical improvements made at the Hotel Holley since June of 2016, and the operation of Joe’s Steakhouse, which “attracts families and more upscale diners to the area.” And, he noted, many of the 68 rentable rooms in the facility are rented to homeless persons referred there by area agencies.
Neither Henry nor an attorney for the liquor control board returned messages seeking comment on Thursday.
