Activist and former Salt Lake City mayoral candidate Michael Valentine, as he promised, has filed a lawsuit against Utah’s liquor agency and its governing board, arguing that they improperly denied his Ballpark-area bar a license to sell alcohol.
Valentine, aka Michael Patton, and his cider-making company, Six Sailor Cider LLC, filed a complaint in 3rd District Court on Thursday against the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services and the commission that oversees the agency.
In the lawsuit, Valentine asks a state judge to void the DABS commission’s May 29 vote to deny a liquor license to his bar, Apparition — because, the complaint argues, the board violated the state’s Open and Public Meetings Act. As an alternative, the lawsuit asks for a judge to issue an order to change the commission’s decision, or send the decision back to the commission so it can grant a license.
“The DABS cannot comment on current litigation,” spokesperson Michelle Schmitt said Friday.
In the lawsuit, Valentine maintains that Apparition’s license application went through all the processes with the DABS staff, and the business met all the requirements for a bar under Utah’s liquor laws.
Because of that, he argued, the commission has no discretion in denying a license to a business that meets those requirements, and had no justification for denying the bar’s application on May 29. In the complaint, Valentine cites Utah Code, which says “the commission may not deny an application … if the applicant satisfies the requirements” of state law.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A sign hangs beside the door to the Salt Lake City bar, Apparition.
That argument echoes what Valentine’s attorney, Janelle Bauer, said at the May 29 meeting, before the board denied the Apparition application on a 3-3 vote. “You don’t have discretion here,” Bauer told the board. “You have to grant the license.”
Immediately after the vote, Valentine posted a message on Instagram: “Time to go to court.”
Valentine also argues in the complaint that the May 29 meeting became an impromptu public hearing on his case, with two members of the public stepping up to comment. Because there was no advance notice of such a hearing, the complaint argues the board violated the state’s Open and Public Meetings Act.
Valentine’s complaint also argues that commissioners who voted against the application improperly cited issues with his management of his previous business, Weathered Waves in The Gateway.
The complaint says state law requires the commission “to consider an applicant’s management experience, past retail alcoholic product experience, and type of management scheme to be used by the applicant.” However, it adds, the law “contains no requirement for the applicant to meet, objective standards, or parameters that can be relied upon to claim the applicant has failed to meet a ‘requirement’ of the [law].”
Weathered Waves closed last November after a long dispute with its landlord. That dispute was spurred in part by a message of “no Zionists allowed” posted on Weathered Waves’ Instagram account in March 2024. DABS received dozens of complaints about the bar and referred them to the Utah Attorney General’s office, which investigated and found no evidence of discrimination.
The judge in the case brought by the landlord awarded a judgment against Valentine in March, ordering him and other defendants (such as the cider company) to pay $20,710. Valentine has appealed.
