The owner of an Oktibbeha County bar and his landlord claim the business’ revenues have dropped dramatically due to actions by the county, and one is threatening legal action if the board of supervisors moves forward with a plan to limit operating hours for all resort status establishments.
Double Headed Eagle Bar and Grill is located at the former Cowbells location, in the Highland Plantation development near Clayton Village at the intersection of Highway 82 and Highway 182. Cowbells was designated resort status by the Mississippi Department of Revenue when it opened in 2009, allowing it to operate under extended hours. Cowbells closed in 2020, and in October of this year, Nick Plava opened Double Headed Eagle Bar and Grill. Like Cowbells, Plava set the closing time on Friday and Saturday night at 3 a.m.
Plava told The Dispatch the bar was shut down the first Saturday he was open after a call was made to the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department complaining the bar was still open past 1 a.m.
While county board of supervisors attorney Rob Roberson has advised OCSD to allow the bar to operate until 3 a.m., he plans to present supervisors with a new resort status ordinance on Monday, which will dictate a closing time of 1 a.m. for all resort status bars and nightclubs.
Resort status is a certification provided by the MDR that allows a property to sell alcohol at any hour without the need for a kitchen. Local ordinances can limit the scope of resort status. Since Oktibbeha County is a dry county, resort status is necessary to sell alcohol.
“The intent of the new ordinance would be to standardize the hours of operation for businesses that sell alcohol. Standardizing it with the city of Starkville would be the intent,” Roberson said of the ordinance he plans to present.
Plava and property owner Larry Mitrenga say such a move will cost the business thousands in lost revenue, and will likely result in the closing of the business and a lawsuit.
“Most bars are closing down at midnight,” Mitrenga said, while talking about the importance of the extended hours. “So they (customers) said let’s go to (Cowbells), and everybody did that. Everybody knew that everybody was going to be there because everybody else was shut down by that time. And so then the party would continue.”
Plava says the extended hours allowed him to make more than $30,000 after his first week of operation despite only having one night of extended hours, but now he says that because of the limited hours, business has slowed to nearly $4,000 to $6,000 per week.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it work,” Plava said. “The only reason we actually took this place was because the hours were until 3 a.m. It was out of the city limits, a little bit far from everything else and excluded from all the other businesses.”
The county appears to be ready to review a new ordinance to limit hours, though.
At a Nov. 21 board of supervisors meeting, supervisors initially expressed support for the enforcement of an earlier closing time, believing resort status nightclubs like the Double Headed the Double Headed Eagle Bar and Grill were covered under the county’s existing roadhouse ordinance, which dictates county nightclubs close by 1 a.m. However, after conversations with Mitrenga and the MDR, which has jurisdiction over resort status businesses, Roberson was informed the county would need to pass a new ordinance, which would then still need to be approved by MDR.
If the county moves forward with such an ordinance, Mitrenga says he will sue the county on the grounds that the new law would cause specific damages to his tenant’s business and cause the tenant to back out of the current lease on the building.
“Obviously, I have some damages,” Mitrenga said. “And that’s what my issue that I would address is the fact that it should be grandfathered. We relied on that resort status.”
Official reactions
Board member Orlando Trainer told The Dispatch he feels that closing businesses at 1 a.m. alleviates strain on the sheriffs department and helps keep people safe.
“I think it would be best to keep it at 1 a.m.,” Trainer said. “When you have that thing open beyond that time, you have to have enough officers to cover that, plus other places in the county need to be covered. You don’t want the deputy to be tied up on that side of the county, and you need them to be on the other side. That’s the only problem.”
He believes the majority of supervisors agree with him. The Dispatch was unable to reach other supervisors by press time.
Roberson said the new ordinance would fall in line with its roadhouse ordinance, a law dictating that county nightclubs must close by 1 a.m., passed in 2014.
OCSD Deputy Chief Chad Garnett said the sheriff’s department believes it would be safer and in the public’s best interest for the bar to remain closed at 1 a.m. with the other establishments in Starkville.
“I’m going to say that we lean toward the public safety issue,” Garnett said. “Clay County, Lowndes County, every surrounding county that has night clubs closes at one, the city of Starkville closes at one. They stay open to three, where everybody that’s been at the bars drinking goes straight out there. So now you got a large number of people who are intoxicated driving to go to another property.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion