87°F
weather icon Clear

Liquor Board approves BC Company Store request

In the 1930s, the original Boulder City Company Store included a “club room.” The city was officially dry until the late 1960s, so booze would not have been officially served. Except it was.

“The club room was only for the higher-ups, the people who lived in the brick houses,” said current owner Tara Bertoli. “And only the people allowed in the club room knew what went on in the club room.”

Bertoli is looking to bring back some of that vibe and got a big boost this week when the Business License Liquor Board approved her application for a Class B Cocktail Lounge Liquor License.

The planned room will take the place of an existing event room at the back of the store. Bertoli said it will be dim and cozy with seating for just 20 people. At least initially, it will be open the same hours as the store.

“So 6:30 in the morning until 3:30 or 4 depending on the day of the week,” she said. “The plan is to have beer, wine and cocktails but only on-tap with the only drink mixing being vodka and Irish cream for mixing with coffee and making espresso martinis.”

Boulder City famously has a very limited number of tavern licenses available and so most of the establishments that sell alcohol do so under a license that requires a different primary business. In most cases that is a restaurant.

Almost a year ago, another proposed business called Leafy Latitude that was slated to open in the building that once housed Nevada State Bank on Nevada Way and that has been empty for years.

In that case, the Liquor Board, on the advice of city staff, denied the application. Although the two cases may seem similar, City Attorney and board member Brittany Walker said they were like comparing apples and oranges.

Speaking only as a member of the board and not as a spokesperson for the board, Walker, in an email said, “The hookah lounge and cigar bar proposed by Leafy Latitude was not an established business and the only evidence submitted to the liquor board that the sale of alcohol would not be the principal business was a spreadsheet of estimations showing the sale of alcohol revenue projections being slightly less than the sale of tobacco without any supporting documentation.”

Although the business did eventually get a state license to sell tobacco, they did not have that at the time their license to sell liquor was considered, another factor that Walker said worked against them. “The applicant was told they could resubmit their application with additional supporting documentation, but the applicant never resubmitted,” Walker reported. The status of the proposed business is not currently known. The sign still hangs outside the former bank but is hanging askew and no work appears to have been done.

At the other end of Nevada Way, Bertoli is planning for a September opening of her club room.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Trio looks to bring new grocery store to town

If one were to ask 25 Boulder City residents what the town is missing, you’d probably get a few different answers like affordable housing or a movie theater. But the overwhelming answer would likely be the same – a second grocery store.

City awards $1.6M for pool design

Back in March 2024, Councilwoman Sherri Jorgensen said, “I can’t even imagine what it would cost in 2028.”

City transfers bond capacity

Kevin Hickey, of the Nevada Rural Housing Authority, has been making pretty much the same presentation to the council annually thanking the city for transferring nearly $1 million in bond capacity to the group he represents.

Council confusion: The leash law saga continues

Three statements — notably, none of them from members of the city council — best illustrated the difficulties residents (both dog-loving and not) have had for at least four years when it comes to the issue of off-leash dogs in public parks.

Breeding in BC? Probably not

Unlike the discussion later in the meeting Tuesday night in which the city council appeared determined to make sure no one was angry at them about the issue of off-leash dogs, they directed staff to take very strong action on the issue of pet breeding.

Lifejacket donations aim to save lives

Greg Bell’s memory lives on by way of a generous donation that may saves lives.

Huge crowd turns out to honor Patton

It was brought up during Saturday’s unveiling of the Shane Patton Memorial Monument as to why Shane’s statue stands 11 feet tall.