Ypsilanti Township has taken a first step toward revoking the liquor license at a problematic Grove Road Dairy Mart.

Following direction from the Board of Trustees at a Monday morning special meeting, township legal counsel will draft a resolution for the board’s consideration that would recommend that the Michigan Liquor Control Commission revoke the Dairy Mart’s liquor license.

The Dairy Mart on Grove Road.

The store is owned by Saleh Hamati, who also owns a Dairy Mart on Textile Road. His license for the Grove Road location was suspended by the Liquor Control Commission for 60 days after an employee sold alcohol to minors who were a part of Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office sting operations on three dates — Dec. 21, 2009; Dec. 30, 2009; and June 10, 2010.

The employee attempted to bribe a Sheriff’s Office deputy on one of the occasions, and officials have raised concerns over the amount of crime at the Grove Road location. Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the store 57 times in 2009 and 73 times in 2010.

Hamati and the township have also been to court over property code violations, though the store is currently deemed up to code.

Renewal of all township liquor licenses are considered by the township annually. If it wishes to have a license revoked, the board must hold a special hearing to decide whether to recommend that the LCC permanently revoke a store’s license. It can do so if there are three sales to a minor in "a calendar year," according to LCC rules.

Monday's hearing used the framework from a regular hearing and was held in the board meeting hall, though it didn't follow regular court rules. The board acted as "judge" while township staff and attorneys acted as plaintiffs. They presented the board with their case and called several witnesses, including Mike Radzik, director of the township's office of community standards, and a deputy in charge of the sting operation.

Hamati and his attorney argued that the township didn’t have the authority to hold the hearing. An attorney representing Hamati and Pat Hall, an attorney representing Mac’s Convenience Franchising , were present at Monday’s meeting. Mac’s convenience is the Indiana-based franchiser for Dairy Mart.

They focused on the legislation’s language that states the three sales had to have occurred in one calendar year. Because two of the sales were at the end of 2009 and one was in 2010, the license couldn't be revoked, Hall said.

Hall said it was “crystal clear” the violations had to occur between January 1 and December 31 of a specific year, and cited the definition of calendar year on Wikipedia and in Black’s Law Dictionary. He repeatedly told the board “to use common sense” in considering the definition.

Township Attorney Dennis McLain told the board that township staff anticipated that argument and Radzik had called the LCC and asked about the definition of “calendar year.”

Radzik said an LCC analyst consulted with her superiors before responding, and subsequently replied on the phone and in writing that the LCC’s definition of calendar year is intended to mean a 1-year period, which supported the township's case.

Hall repeatedly objected to the township board and attorneys' procedures throughout the hearing on the grounds that they had no authority to hold the hearing. He also said there is no case law that supports the township’s attorneys’ stance or any that upholds what the LCC analyst told Radzik.

Township Attorney Doug Winters pointed out that there is also no case law to support the defense’s argument.

Several board members said they were comfortable recommending that the LCC revoke the license, then allowing the LCC or a court of law determine the language’s intent. But it was agreed that staff would again contact the LCC before the board votes on the recommendation at its next regular meeting.

Hall told the board it was unnecessarily wasting taxpayer money in paying township lawyers to pursue the case.

Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo strongly disagreed.

“This is the right investment for our youth,” she said. “You might see it as an unnecessary expense, but I see it as an investment to protect the youth of our community.”

She told Hamati that selling to minors on three separate occasions was “almost unforgivable”, to which Hamati replied that he had fired the clerk who sold the alcohol.

“It’s going to come down to interpretation on what a calendar year means, but without that (the case) is very clear-cut,” Stumbo said. “As a supervisor and as a mother, it’s really very concerning that it would happen in 12 months, 24 months or 36 months.”

Several board members also took exception to Hall repeatedly telling them they needed to use common sense.

“You say 'Use your common sense,' I say your client needs to use some common sense and quit jeopardizing our youth,” Stumbo said.

Trustee Stan Eldridge, a former City of Ypsilanti police officer, agreed.

“Having served in law enforcement for 20 years, I can tell you the damage that alcohol in combination with youth causes and how it wreaks havoc on communities,” he said. “We can debate the meaning of 12 months in a calendar year, but the fact remains someone sold alcohol to minors three times in a year and I am using common sense in making these decisions.”

Winters said after the meeting that he believes this is the first time the question over the meaning of a calendar year has been debated. He said there needs to be some clarification, but said the township is acting strictly in a advisory role to the LCC.

He added that no matter what the outcome, the township pursuing the case sends a message that it is ultimately a business owner’s responsibility to ensure there are no sales to minors and said there was a “pattern of defiance” from Hamati.

"I’m not buying the idea that he didn’t know what was going on,” Winters said. “It’s like the piano player in the house of prostitution claiming he doesn’t know what’s going on upstairs — he knows what’s going on.”

Tom Perkins is a freelance reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at 734-623-2530 or news@annarbor.com.