Seven's liquor license suspended

<p>A year after increased security and other operational changes allowed Santa Rosa's Seven Ultralounge to keep its doors open, a 30-day suspension of its liquor license is forcing the downtown nightclub to face up to its past.</p><p>Santa Rosa police and state Alcoholic Beverage Control personnel say the nearly 3-year-old establishment has cleaned up its act since it was threatened with closure last fall. But the punishment for problems preceding that time frame still has to be served.</p><p>"They stipulated to this and started the suspension as of today," Michael Korson, the ABC's district administrator in Santa Rosa, said Thursday. "After 30 days, they can begin selling alcohol again. No additional conditions were added because of this."</p><p>The license suspension, he said, is the result of a case the agency opened last fall based on some of the same complaints that prompted the city to take action.</p><p>The first count of the ABC's accusation cites excessive requests for police and fire service -- 471 calls between February 2006 and September 2007, Korson said.</p><p>The second count simply identified the nightclub as "a disorderly house."</p><p>A repeat of either violation in the next two years would cost the club its license, but there are no pending investigations at present, Korson said.</p><p>Seven's owners faced similar charges last year from city officials who cited frequent fighting and assaults, public drunkenness, noise complaints and other problems when it threatened to revoke the club's land-use permit.</p><p>Related violence included high-profile cases such as the shooting death of a Santa Rosa man in the city's Seventh Street parking garage as he and a group of friends headed toward the club, and the beating of a Willits patron by two other men in the same garage.</p><p>Club owners reached a settlement with the city, however, based in part on its hiring of new management and security, a dress code prohibiting gang attire, and its abandonment of gangsta-rap and other musical styles that include violent or explicit language.</p><p>"This 30-day suspension represents how we used to be operating, not how we're operating now," said retired San Rafael Police Officer Mo Aimaq, who was brought on board as Seven's general manager last November to help "change the face and image of the club."</p><p>Police Sgt. Andy Romero, who supervises patrol services downtown, said the number and severity of police calls had declined since the city stepped in a year ago.</p><p>But Seven, with a capacity of nearly 300 people, is still the largest drinking establishment downtown, so it probably leads in police calls, he said.</p><p>"We're not getting as many (as before) but it's a bar, so we still get calls for service there . . . drunk calls and fight calls," Romero said.</p><p>Aimaq said the club intends to stay open Friday and Saturday nights for alcohol-free events catering to the 16-to-18-year-old high school crowd.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat</p><p>.com.</p>