The evening of March 15, Pioneer Tap received its second notice for emergency closure from the village in a single year. The notice came less than 24 hours after police saw multiple people fighting in front of the bar, two of whom were charged with battery.
Following the emergency closure, Mayor Rory Hoskins, who also serves as Forest Park’s liquor commissioner, held a hearing March 24 to determine the status of Pioneer Tap’s liquor license. Pioneer Tap received a 20-day suspension from the time of its emergency closure and will reopen on April 4 at 7 p.m. Bar owner Marty Sorice also had to pay a $750 fine, plus hearing fees.
Neither Hoskins nor Sorice returned a request for comment.
According to the village code, a liquor license holder is required to “maintain the premises in a peaceable and orderly manner,” including the public area around the business. Any violation of the village’s liquor code, local ordinances or state laws can result in the liquor commissioner revoking an establishment’s liquor license.
This isn’t the first time Pioneer Tap has been unexpectedly closed for public safety reasons.
The bar had a liquor license hearing in 2021 after an incident that July when, after a fight at Pioneer Tap, a man tried to hit a pedestrian with his car. As liquor commissioner, Hoskins determined that the village couldn’t prove alleged charges and declared no sanctions for Pioneer Tap.
Last April, the village closed Pioneer Tap for a week. At that time, the bar was included in 24 police reports in the first four months of the year. Police responded to noise complaints, fights and open alcohol outside the business, and a DUI from a patron. But after a hearing where Pioneer Tap’s owner, Marty Sorice, was fined $650 and developed a corrective action plan, the bar reopened later that month.
The corrective action plan included increased security on weekends, playing music at a lower volume, closing windows when noise could be disruptive, making signage to remind patrons they’re in a residential area, and requesting to meet with the village quarterly to discuss issues and be notified if there’s an uptick in disruptive behavior.
At the March 24 hearing, Police Chief Ken Gross requested that the new corrective action plan — which Sorice has 7 days to create, and which Gross and Hoskins can edit before approving —include additional security that periodically walks down Randolph and Des Plaines to ensure no patrons are drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis on the public way or inside their cars.
Hoskins requested that the new correction action plan also include a provision to clean up the area around Pioneer Tap.
According to the village code, establishments with liquor licenses must remove all waste and litter, including cigarette butts and paper, from the sidewalk and parkway.
Is the corrective action plan working?
When asked if he thought Pioneer Tap’s correction action plan from last year was fulfilled, Gross said “probably not,” given the March 15 fight outside the establishment. But the village also hasn’t seen any incidents since last year.
“We haven’t had any major issues since last April,” Village Administrator Rachell Entler told the Review. “Based on that, they were essentially doing what they were supposed to be doing.”
According to residents who live around Pioneer Tap, the corrective action plan didn’t seem to be working as of September, when three Forest Parkers attended a council meeting to report continued disruptive and criminal behavior.
Aside from that meeting, Gross said neither police officers nor neighbors have reported to him that there’s been an influx in illegal activity around Pioneer Tap. And the number of police reports at the business have decreased since this time last year.
“It seemed like the problem ceased,” Gross said. He added that, last fall, he was invited to a meeting with Sorice and some neighbors of Pioneer Tap but was unable to attend and hasn’t heard follow-up concerns from those who went.
Gross previously told the Review that the Forest Park Police Department would analyze whether the corrective action plan was effective by monitoring activity at Pioneer Tap and calls to the police department regarding the bar.
“Our officers do patrol that area quite a bit, especially if they see it’s a busy bar night,” Gross said. The fight on March 15, he added, wasn’t called in, but seen by a patrolling police officer. “I want the bar and residents to be able to coexist. If one’s not peaceful, I understand the complaints from the neighbors.”