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Hotel California still awaits liquor decision as 2014 ends
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Rucci
EDITOR’S NOTE — As 2014 winds down, The Vindicator is taking a daily look back at the people and events that made this year unforgettable. “The Vindicator Rewind” will highlight and update a memorable story from 2014.
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
The end of this year finds embattled businessman Sebastian Rucci in a much different place than the start of 2014.
Months ago, he was spending his time — and money — renovating the hotel that would become Hotel California and wrapping up the final court case for his past business, the Go Go Girls Cabaret. The Hotel California, at 5455 Clarkins Drive and 1051 N. Canfield-Niles Road, is inching closer to an opening.
Rucci was found guilty on two charges in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown on March 31. Those are illegal sales and keeper of place/beer or liquor sold illegally. He had been sentenced to 30 days in jail and $3,000 in fines, but he has appealed that ruling.
A spokesman for the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control said Monday there had not been a ruling on the establishment’s liquor license, specifically for Club Cali, the restaurant, along with the Funny Farm comedy club. That license featured a two-day hearing in Youngstown last month, and the license is in the name of Rucci’s friend and business partner, attorney James Vitullo.
“Truthfully, I didn’t anticipate there would be a hostility toward this place to get a liquor license,” Rucci said. “This [hotel] is something that’s pretty good for everyone, and, hopefully, Columbus [and the liquor decision] will go in our favor.”
“We anticipated it taking this long, and like we said, whatever decision is made by the state, we’re prepared to live with,” said Jim Davis, Austintown trustee.
During that liquor hearing, Davis and Rucci talked in the hallways, opening up dialogue between the township and the businessman for the first time. Rucci followed that up by attending a trustee meeting in November and apologizing to the township.
“We really haven’t had much discussion since he came to that [November] meeting,” Davis said Monday. “If he didn’t have this history with the township that he did, we would be overly ecstatic about someone coming in and renovating that hotel.”
Davis added that if the license is denied, Rucci would have to file for a new one. “I want to work with him to make sure that the steps that I feel are necessary that he needs to make to get a license are taken.”
An official with the office of Judge John R. Adams of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio in Akron said a temporary restraining order filed against Rucci and his hotel had yet to be ruled on as of Monday. A California-based hotel under the same name filed a trademark-infringement case against Rucci in the latter part of 2014.
“The fact that the temporary restraining order is taking some time could be a good sign,” said Rucci.
Even with all of those things going on, Rucci has moved forward with his idea for a different kind of hotel to accommodate patrons of Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, just down the road, for their nightly visits. The new anticipated opening date is in the latter part of January.
“I think we will be a good complement to the racino, but we will let time tell that,” he said. “There’s really no one doing things like us with the amenity package.”