Meet 27, at long last, granted liquor license

After more than three years of trying to acquire a liquor license for his Remington restaurant Meet 27, Richard D'Souza has succeeded.

The Board of Liquor License Commissioners of Baltimore City at its Thursday hearing granted Meet 27 a license to serve beer, wine and liquor. The decision represents a victory for D'Souza over opposition from a splinter neighborhood organization that had been opposing his license.

The board had previously approved D'Souza's request for a Class B liquor license transfer in August 2010 - before Meet 27 was open - only to have that approval overturned later by the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

In February, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals issued a decision that essentially overturned the lower court's decision, determining that the liquor board had acted properly in when it approved the transfer.

But the upper court sent back a small portion of the case to the liquor board for "further factfinding" concerning two requirements that opponents of Meet 27 said made D'Souza ineligible to have a liquor license.

At Thursday's hearing, the liquor board found that the facts supported giving Meet 27 its license.

"I'm happy," D'Souza said. "But I'm going to keep a low profile because [the group] is going to try to get us on other issues."

Neighbors may still be able to appeal the latest decision, according to liquor board chairman Stephan Fogelman.

Joan Floyd of the Remington Neighborhood Alliance, who argued against the license at the board hearing, could not be reached for immediate comment about plans to appeal.