After 24 police reports filed this year involving Pioneer Tap or its patrons, Mayor Rory Hoskins, who is also liquor commissioner, sent an emergency notice to the bar at 7443 Randolph St. to close for a week for violating village code before allowing it to reopen following a hearing on April 24.
At the hearing, Hoskins fined Pioneer Tap $650 and ordered its owner Marty Sorice to submit a corrective action plan to Police Chief Ken Gross within seven days of the hearing.
Sorice didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Gross told the Review that the plan was emailed to him and includes:
- Elimination of Pioneer Tap’s $5 U-Call-It Sunday drink promotion
- Increased security staff on weekends, or when the village perceives it necessary
- Playing all music at a lower volume
- Turning off a jukebox feature that, when on, randomly plays music, even when the bar is closed
- Closing windows when the music and/or crowd might be disruptive
- Making new signage to remind patrons they are in a residential area
- Requesting to meet with the village quarterly to discuss issues and be notified if there’s an uptick in “perceived problems,” plus for the village to organize a meeting with the bar and its neighbors to get feedback
Gross said the police department’s shift supervisors will be informed of Sorice’s action plan and report on its success.
To analyze whether the corrective action plan is effective or needs revising, police officers will monitor both activity at Pioneer Tap and calls to the police department regarding the bar. The police department is also surveying emailed or phoned complaints the village gets about Pioneer Tap outside of the 911 center.