In Fantasies on 5th Avenue, LLC v. State,[1] the supreme court held that the Alcohol and Beverage Control Board (Board) did not abuse its discretion in denying a strip club’s liquor license renewal application where there was ample evidence of safety, management, and employment concerns and the club received adequate due process. Fantasies On 5th Avenue, LLC (the club), a strip club business, applied to the Board for a liquor license renewal in 2015. After numerous “red flags” prompted further investigation of the club, the Board and Department of Labor discovered several severe and ongoing employment, management, and safety violations. The Board subsequently found that renewal of the club’s license was not in the public interest, subsequently denying renewal. The club appealed the Board’s decision to an administrative law judge and then to the superior court, both of which upheld the Board’s decision. The club then appealed to the supreme court, arguing that the Board violated its due process rights and acted unreasonably by finding that its license renewal would not be in the public interest, and that the licensing law was unconstitutionally vague. First, the Court found that the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying the club’s license renewal application because the substantial evidence of safety, management, and employment issues supported its finding that renewal was not in the public interest. Next, the Court found that the club received due process throughout its hearing based on its opportunity to be heard, adequate notice, and lack of unconstitutional vagueness in the licensing laws. Accordingly, the Court wholeheartedly affirmed the superior’s court ruling upholding the Board’s denial of the club’s license renewal application, and held that the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying a strip club’s liquor license renewal application where there was ample evidence of safety, management, and employment concerns and the club received adequate due process.
[1] 446 P.3d 360 (Alaska 2019).
