Plymouth Votes To Temporarily Suspend Movie Theater’s Liquor License
A Plymouth movie theater will be temporarily losing its liquor license at the end of the month.
The Plymouth City Council suspended the liquor license for the Emagine Willow Creek movie theater this week. The six-month suspension starts Sept. 1.
Police officers say the movie theater, which is located at 9900 Shelard Parkway, failed four liquor compliance checks in the last three years.
During the compliance checks — which might more commonly be called a “sting operation” — a minor working on behalf of the police department ordered an alcoholic beverage from the Emaigine Willow Creek bar. The establishment passes the sting if it doesn’t serve alcohol to the minor.
The Plymouth City Council suspended the liquor license for the Emagine Willow Creek movie theater this week. The six-month suspension starts Sept. 1.
‘We’re Not Here to Pick Winners and Losers’
Plymouth Mayor Jeffry Wosje said the theater had “egregiously violated” the city’s trust.
“We’re not here to pick winners and losers, we’re here to apply an ordinance and a violation,” he said. “And as much as I want to support businesses in our community, I’m behind businesses in our community, I want you to succeed. There’s also a trust we place in you to do what you need to do.”
The owners of the movie theater said they have been trying to rebuild their staff since the COVID-19 shutdowns.
“I fired 600 people in one day and then had to build the company back up again,” said Jon Goldstein with Emagine Entertainment. “I’m not going to tell you that there weren’t holes in our systems when we came back online. And that’s what happened. But once that happened, for the last 16 months, we’ve had every single thing in place that we could possibly have to prevent this from happening.”
In addition to the license suspension, Emagine will pay a $2,000 fine.
“This is not who we are,” Goldstein said. “This is a big part of our business. It’s something that our customers expect from us, and if we were to lose [our liquor license], it would be very difficult for us.”
Goldstein said the last violation occurred when a new employee had a medical event and was switching medication. They fired that employee an hour after the incident, he said.
“I have asked, what did I do wrong my whole way here tonight,” Goldstein said. “Could we have done anything more? And I can’t think of anything. If anyone can, we’ll do it. If the police want to come and check on us, I would love it if they did more compliance checks because I would like my staff to know that it’s happening all the time.”
The majority of the council supported a stiff penalty for the theater. The lone opposition to the suspension came from Plymouth City Council Member Jim Davis.
“Maybe I’m a softie,” he said. “Revocation is like the death penalty.”
