Superblock bar makes its last stand to keep Myrtle Beach business license

One superblock bar argued that it should be allowed to stay open as another withdrew its appeal to do so entirely during a hearing Tuesday morning for the two bars whose business licenses had been suspended.

“I have been nothing but compliant to the law, I have the utmost respect for each one of you,” Natalie Litsey, owner of Natalia’s Bar and Grill, said to City Council. “Let’s be fair to the business people who are trying to do the right thing.”

Natalia’s and Pure Ultra Club, both located in Myrtle Beach’s downtown superblock neighborhood, were sent letters suspending their business licenses on Nov. 28. A shooting that left five injured inside Pure Ultra in November has spurred an examination of bars and clubs across the city, as well as a mandated 2 a.m. closing time for superblock bars, and now Myrtle Beach city staff have recommended both locations lose their right to operate in the city.

Business License Administrator Mary McDowell said Natalia’s has become a public nuisance, citing a shooting that occurred there on July 21. She said Litsey failed to properly revise and file a safety plan with the city after that shooting and alleges her staff did not call police quickly enough when issues arise in the area, including a shooting in an adjacent alleyway on Oct. 22.

“There was no reporting of the [July 21] shooting to police. Myrtle Beach Police found out about the shooting from representatives of Grand Strand Hospital,” McDowell said.

McDowell cited other issues, including a period where Natalia’s did not have an approved safety plan and issues with a man named John Reamsnyder, a former employee of Natalia’s who was also arrested for possession of marijuana, heroin and crack and found to be selling drugs in the parking lot behind Natalia’s.

Litsey countered that she worked with police to fix her safety plan, that she fired Reamsnyder when police told her about his alleged criminal activity and that staff told her they did not report to police after the Oct. 22 incident because police had already arrived as they were calling dispatch.

She also argued that businesses and the city should work together to reduce crime in the superblock.

“Let’s clean it up,” she said. “It’s not just my establishment that’s struggling. It’s every one in that block.”

Litsey’s lawyer, Jim Irving, appeared ready to question the validity of police reports provided as evidence in support of pulling Litsey’s license. He asked McDowell, who said she was provided video and reports from police, “You believe the city of Myrtle Beach would never give you any bad information?”

“I don’t believe they would intentionally give me bad information,” McDowell said.

Irving clarified that he was not just talking about intentional errors, and McDowell responded that she trusts the police department.

At the beginning of the public appeal, Michael Battle, an attorney for the city of Myrtle Beach, said that Pure Ultra Club was withdrawing its attempt to get its business license reinstated. The club was the site of the shooting that injured five on Nov. 5. Battle said that Hektor Melendez, the club’s owner, was ill and would be unable to continue operating a business.

However, Litsey and Melendez’s lawyer offered one similar argument in their appeals, filed before the Tuesday hearing: both said they were unaware of the criminal status of some individuals in and around their clubs, and therefore could not have known to react differently to individuals who were known gang members. The documents explaining business license suspensions for both clubs cite activity by known members of gangs in and around the bar and clubs.

City Council will make a final ruling on the license for Natalia’s in its next meeting on Jan. 24.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Superblock bar makes its last stand to keep Myrtle Beach business license."