The owner of Bel Air?s popular Ropewalk Tavern pleaded his case before the Harford County Liquor Control Board Wednesday, responding to charges that the bar?s policies contributed to a pair of brawls in December.
The Liquor Control Board ruled that the bar “overserved” intoxicated patrons on Dec. 22 and 28, when fights broke out inside and outside the Main Street establishment, requiring town police and Maryland state troopers to disperse the brawlers. The board will decide on a penalty within two weeks, said Chairman Donald Hess. That could range from a letter of reprimand to revocation of the bar?s liquor license.
“Most problems before the board have been the result of people having too much to drink. Then it?s the mouth, then it?s their fists,” said Stanley Getz, the board?s attorney.
On Dec. 22, a fight that started after a Christmas party in an upstairs dining room required six police officers to stop. The second incident occurred about six days later, when a fight required Trooper Justin Gross and Bel Air Police Sgt. Dennis Murphy to repeatedly use their Tasers on two men who were resisting arrest outside the bar. Other officers were called in for backup, and the two men were arrested.
Ropewalk owner Mark McFaul defended his bar?s record as a contributor to the community and cited his efforts in teaching his staff to recognize when a patron?s had too much, but blamed high employee turnover for lessening the effect of those efforts.
McFaul also said many incidents tied to the bar are a result of its proximity to the public parking lot next door ? many revelers will park near his bar, visit other downtown establishments, then get into trouble on their way back, he said.
Trooper Justin Gross disagreed that the parking lot was the source of the trouble, recalling only one occasion when he?d been called to Looney?s, another popular Bel Air bar. .
“I can tell you they had every trooper in the county there that night,” he said of the brawl on Dec. 28.
