The Ohio Division of Liquor Control approved the permits for two local establishments following hearings that Delaware City Council requested.
Following Council approval on Monday, the city will file an appeal with Liquor Control for the permit granted to Issa Full Up LLC gas station, 612 S. Sandusky St., also known as Full Up. On the other hand, Council will not appeal the permit approved for the upcoming Flying Pig Ale House, 12 S. Sandusky St., eatery in downtown.
City Attorney Darren Shulman recommended an appeal for the Full Up permit because of “substantive problems” in the past.
Delaware police and the Delaware Bible Church, which is located within 500 feet of the station at 45 Bella Ave., raised objections to the company’s application for a permit to sell wine and beer for carryout.
The station has had several incidents of selling liquor to underage people, was connected to trafficking controlled substances in 2014 and the current owner had failed to make contact with the investigator, according to a Delaware police liquor permit report.
Council requested a hearing for the Flying Pig Ale House because co-owner Xue Gong Chen’s use of two social security numbers in his application raised a red flag for Delaware police since one of the SSNs was connected to a marijuana possession conviction.
There is little documentation for why Chen was issued two SSNs in 1998, according to city records, but having two SSNs does not violate federal laws unless both numbers were consistently used.
“We don’t recommend appealing the Flying Pig. If you recall there wasn’t any substantive objections from the police report, but we felt that the issue of the social security number was one that we wanted to make sure the Liquor Commission was aware of it,” Shulman said.
Chen and co-owners TJ Wellman and Amanda Sykes purchased 12 S. Sandusky St. in January 2016. Chen’s attorney said he plans to invest $150,000 in the project, creating 10 jobs.
“Right now our contractors are diligently working to finish indoor renovations, we will be working on the facade thereafter and hope to open around late summer or early fall if we stay on our current pace,” Sykes said in an email to The Gazette.
Chen owns three other businesses, including Buckeye Fusion of Lancaster, Poke Doki in Columbus and Poke Bros at Polaris Fashion Place mall.
Wellman is a co-owner of Typhoon Asian Fusion Bistro, 10 N. Sandusky St., with Xue Qin Chen, Xue Gong Chen’s brother, as the business’ liquor permit holder.
