State processes permits for reopening of B & amp;O

The applicant has 30 days to pay a permit fee.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF Writer
YOUNGSTOWN -- A relative of one of the former owners of a downtown bar and eatery is taking steps to reopen the establishment.
The Ohio Department of Liquor Control received applications for liquor permits for the B & amp;O Station Box Car Lounge and the B & amp;O Station Banquet Hall, both on Mahoning Avenue, just across the Mahoning River from downtown.,
Both permits, if granted, would allow on-premise consumption and carryout of beer and wine and on-premise consumption of liquor, according to Denise Lee, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Commerce, which oversees the liquor control department.
Paperwork at liquor control lists Laura Arroyo as the person seeking the permit for the businesses and says the businesses would be part of a community entertainment district.
She operated the restaurant after legal problems started for her father, Robert L. Arroyo, and Joseph C. Pedaline, who had co-owned the B & amp;O and a Marshall Street warehouse raided by federal agents. In the summer of 2004, the men pleaded guilty to cultivation and intent to distribute charges and were sentenced to prison.
Laura Arroyo could not be reached to comment.
Permit applications
Lee said that the application was filed Dec. 16 and that Laura Arroyo was notified of the receipt Dec. 20. She has 30 days from that date to pay the required $2,844 permit fee for each application. Those fees have not yet been received by state department of liquor control, the spokeswoman said.
If the fees are paid, the department will conduct an investigation including reviewing the background of the applicant and what's being requested. The city also will be notified and allowed 30 days to submit objections.
Robert L. Arroyo, and Pedaline opened the B & amp;O in June 2002 and at that time, said they had invested more than $300,000 in improvements before reopening. The establishment received a liquor license later that year.
The two men bought the building from the city for $50,000.
Mahoning County property tax records now list the owner as a Las Vegas company.
The old rail station has been closed since 1996.
The city shelled out $2 million to restore the building in 1991, loaning National Restaurant Development Corp. of Washington, D.C., $1.2 million.
That company went bankrupt and closed the restaurant in November 1996.