Liquor license rejected for old strip club, politics claims attorney

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) -Claiming that Houston County Commissioners are putting politics before the law, an attorney promises the fight for a liquor license is not over.

On 3-1 vote, commissioners rejected Horizon Sports Bar and Grill’s application for an on-premises license on Monday, with only Curtis Harvey disagreeing with that decision.

“If this was an Applebee’s, would you deny it?” Dothan attorney Dustin Fowler asked moments before the vote.

Jack Ramu, the applicant, is not the issue, but instead the sordid history of the location led to the denial.

“I don’t know who’s trying to put the lipstick on the pig, but it’s got a bad history,” said Kenneth Hardy, who owns a restaurant next door.

He is concerned about the history of violence, including three 2012 connected murders when named Teasers Rock-Hard Cabaret, a strip club.

Teasers closed in 2021, and the building has been unoccupied since then.

“This is the first time in 70 years there has not been a beer joint in the Wicksburg community,” Hardy told commissioners, pointing out the proposed bar’s proximity to a school.

But Fowler argued that a convenience store across U.S. 84 is closer to Wicksburg school than the building Horizon would occupy if it ultimately received a liquor license.

That store sells only beer and wine, and consumption must be elsewhere.

Fowler also accused commissioners of keeping competition away from Hardy’s business because of their personal relationship with the businessman.

Commissioners also rejected another liquor license application for Horizon last September, but with another applicant.

Though a judge upheld that decision, Fowler said he would continue his crusade.

“Absolutely,” Fowler responded when asked if he plans to appeal to Houston County Circuit Court.

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