Despite protests, license granted

A restaurant is going to start serving beer and wine soon.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- The Canfield school board has lost its fight to keep a restaurant near the high school from getting a liquor license.
AngeNetta's on Cardinal Drive received notice Thursday from the Ohio Division of Liquor Control that its license is approved, said Tony Olin, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Phyllis.
The Olins have been fighting to win approval for a license since October, when they launched a public campaign to win voter support for their site-specific liquor option in the city's Precinct 5.
The city had never passed a liquor option before. But Precinct 5 did pass the option for AngeNetta's on the November ballot with 68 percent of the vote. The Olins proceeded with their application to the state for the license.
The school board decided at its January meeting to protest the application, which it had the right to do under Ohio law. Public entities such as school districts, churches and libraries can object if a business within 500 feet of them applies for a liquor license. AngeNetta's is 300 feet away from the school's property at 100 Cardinal Drive. School board members and administrators said they were worried that people drinking at the restaurant would create a safety problem for the high school.
An officer for the liquor control division heard arguments May 11 from the school board and the Olins in Youngstown.
Both sides' arguments
Dante Zambrini, schools superintendent, and board member David Moore testified that the school is busy from dawn into the night not only with school events, but also community events. Bruce Brocker, former school board president, said the restaurant draws large crowds before events at the school, and people who meet there then go on to school property.
The Olins have said that they do not intend to serve hard liquor at their restaurant, only beer and wine with dinners. They said they don't intend to have a bar, and that they don't expect to attract the kind of clientele that would be drunk and disorderly.
Tony Olin said Thursday the liquor license is already processed. He and his wife are taking a vacation next week, he said, but plan to begin offering beer and wine when they return.
School board president Martha Zarlenga said there's nothing else the board can do.
"We're not against it," she said. "We just don't like it in front of the school."
She said she hopes the Olins don't go back on their word not to have a bar. "What they say and do are two different things."
She said there is always security "at any rate" at school events, and security cameras in the schools.