City punishes Save Mart stores: 10 days, no liquor sales

The Carson City Liquor and Entertainment Board on Thursday told a representative of two Save Mart stores in Carson City and the Food Maxx on Highway 50 the stores couldn’t sell alcohol until July 31. Furthermore, board members approved the company’s liquor license for July 31 on the condition new applications for liquor managers at each store be submitted to the city by July 28.

“Just on the record, to be clear, the reason we are doing the July 31 date is, as I indicated earlier, for you to prove that suitability,” Mayor Lori Bagwell told John Norman, who was requesting a liquor license on behalf of Save Mart Supermarkets LLC. “Because at this point you haven’t demonstrated that suitability to us. You’ve ignored requests. You didn’t do it for 15 months. But we want to give the opportunity for you to prove that suitability to us because I want to take you at your word.”

Norman was applying to be the liquor manager for all three stores. The liquor board is made up of the supervisors and the Carson City sheriff. Carson City Deputy District Attorney Adam Tully advised the board that per municipal code, denial of a liquor license can be based on unsuitability of an applicant considering “proper protection of public health, safety, morals, good character and general welfare of the inhabitants of Carson City.”

After the hearing, Norman declined to comment on how the penalty will affect business. A motion to deny the liquor application outright was made by Supervisor Stacey Giomi and seconded by Supervisor Maurice White but later changed into the conditional approval.

White voted against the conditional approval, saying earlier in the hearing the company and representative had shown a willingness to operate “far outside any reasonable expectation.”

According to a June 26 memo by Carson City Business License Specialist Natalie Kiel, the Save Mart company was acquired by Kingswood Capital Management LP in 2022. The LLC was formed March 22, 2022. However, according to the memo, an updated liquor license application for the new entity was not submitted to the Business License Division until March 31, 2023. The memo also states Norman didn’t complete the background check in a timely manner.

Late material presented Thursday showed the Carson City Sheriff’s Office did complete the background check this month and found no issues with Norman. He lives in California and serves as the vice president of operations for California and Nevada stores, according to CCSO. The office recommended approval of the license on the condition the company appoint local liquor managers for each store, a recommendation carried out by the board.

According to the city, a liquor license must be updated within 30 days of any change in the liquor manager or corporate entity. In this case, code enforcement officers will be checking the stores for compliance going forward.

A liquor license application for Homegrown Bowling LLC, the new operator of the bowling alley in south Carson, was not heard Thursday.

In other action:

• Supervisors, as the regular board, approved two collective bargaining agreements.

The first is between the city and the Carson City Sheriff’s Supervisory Association for those ranked sergeant. The agreement runs from July 1, retroactively, to June 30, 2028. The estimated fiscal impact is about $4.8 million above the five-year projections included in the budget for fiscal year 2024.

The second agreement is between the Carson City Fire Fighters Association, Local 2251 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, for battalion chiefs. The four-year agreement runs from July 1, retroactively, and expires on June 30, 2027. The estimated fiscal impact would be $661,708 above the five-year projections included in the fiscal year 2024 budget.

White was the lone vote against both agreements. Supervisor Curtis Horton abstained from voting on the second item due to his two sons working for CCFD.

• Supervisors unanimously authorized city staff to move forward with due diligence in the potential acquisition of water rights for Buzzy’s Ranch.

Approximately 491 acres, Buzzy’s Ranch sits along the Carson River between Riverview Park to the north and Silver Saddle Ranch to the south. The property was purchased by the city in two phases in 2007 and 2010, but the city didn’t have enough funding at the time for water rights.

Due diligence will include obtaining title reports, appraisals and identifying financial options. The city recently received an approximately $1.8 million Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act grant to purchases 694 acre-feet of water rights from Vidler Water Co. This will be used to irrigate about a third of the property including the central section containing wetlands enhanced by Ducks Unlimited. Historically, the entire property has needed about 1,895 acre-feet per year, according to the city.

• Supervisors unanimously voted to appoint Kitty McKay to the Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority to represent “other commercial interests” beside the hotel or motel industry.

McKay, administrator of community and patient experience at Carson Tahoe Health, will serve a two-year term.

“If any of you know me, one thing I have is passion,” McKay told supervisors. “And one of my greatest passions is for our community.”