A downtown Manitowoc bar will not be getting its liquor license renewed.
The Manitowoc Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve denying the “Class B” license renewal for Leslie O’s LLC, doing business as Déjà Vu on N. 8th Street.
The council held a hearing for attorneys representing the city and Déjà Vu to give their arguments on why the bar should either be allowed to renew or not renew the liquor license.
The attorney for the city’s side, John Therman, argued that one of the owners, Roger Burt, was convicted of a crime and, therefore, couldn’t have the license.
He also cited numerous citations for the Déjà Vu, with police being called numerous times for various incidents.
He continued his focus on an incident where someone died after drowning in the Manitowoc River following a visit to Déjà Vu that night.
Therman brought forth numerous Manitowoc police officers as witnesses with Officer Charlie Schmidt testifying that the bar wouldn’t give footage to them from that night because of a power outage.
Once it was found out there was footage, Manitowoc Police Detective Pete McGinty said he saw Burt pass drugs to someone in the bar.
Attorney John Carrol, who argued for Déjà Vu, explained that the city approved the business’s first liquor license when it first opened in 2020, even with Burt’s previous criminal convictions.
He also added that incidents involved the owners, but happened away from the premises, and therefore the citations don’t directly involve the owners.
After the council vote, City Attorney Eric Nycz explained that a letter would be sent to the business explaining the denial.
Manitowoc Alderman Mike Cummings and Brett Norell weren’t at the council meeting and didn’t vote on the issue.
