The Harford County Liquor Control Board unanimously approved Wednesday a liquor license for the operators of The Greene Turtle restaurant in Bel Air, which is scheduled to open June 17 at its Harford Mall location.
The board approved the license, which is a Class BNR License that allows the operators to run a restaurant and sell beer, wine and liquor, on the condition that the Harford County Health Department completes its final inspection of the facility, the operators obtain their final use and occupancy permit and the board receives the certification that resident licensee Robert Frankis, of Bel Air, has completed alcohol awareness training.
The restaurant operators must also certify there was a $250,000 investment in improving their facility to qualify for the BNR license.
Robert Frankis, his twin brother and business partner William Frankis, along with their attorney Eric McLauchlin, of Bel Air, attended Wednesday's license hearing before the liquor board, which came with a discussion of prior criminal charges against Robert Frankis.
McLauchlin acknowledged that Robert Frankis, 44, has faced criminal charges in Baltimore County involving illegal slot machines.
Police charged Frankis with 23 counts of possessing and maintaining a slot machine in 2008 and two counts of possessing and maintaining a slot machine in 2012, according to online court records.
McLauchlin said Frankis is part of the family-owned Towson Vending company, which buys, sells and installs various types of vending machines. He said he client was caught in a "regulatory crackdown" in 2008 and 2012 on slot machines.
Twenty-one of the 23 charges Frankis faced in 2008 were dropped, and he pleaded not guilty to the remaining two charges. A Baltimore County District Court judge gave him six months of unsupervised probation before judgment in March of 2009, according to court records.
The two 2012 charges were placed on the District Court stet docket in August of that year, meaning the case is inactive and Frankis has not been convicted of anything, but it can be taken off the stet docket by prosectors if he violates any conditions.
McLauchlin told the liquor board that Frankis' case will remain on the stet docket until this August.
McLauchlin said the criminal charges were being brought before the board as a "duty of candor." He said the charges had not been reported when Frankis was applying for the liquor license because he "misunderstood" questions on the application about any prior arrests.
"I misinterpreted the word, 'guilty' and the word 'arrest,' and I do apologize about that," Frankis said.
McLauchlin said that Frankis has completed his probation from the 2008 charges, and that the machines at the center of both cases "were not placed in alcohol-licensed establishments."
"We're hoping that's going to be a non-issue for the purposes of this license," he said.
Liquor board officials learned about the charges against Frankis while doing background investigations of the license applicants.
Board Chairman Michael Thomson Sr. told McLauchlin that he "couldn't agree with you more" about Frankis' charges not being relevant to the licensing process, but "they're relevant in that we expect full disclosure."
"We would rather learn about [charges] through [the applicant] rather than our own discovery," Thomson said later.
The Frankis brothers also own and operate The Greene Turtle restaurant in Aberdeen as well as three Greene Turtles in Delaware. The regional chain has 41 locations, according to its website, including 26 in Maryland, seven in Virginia, five in Delaware and one at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
"I always thought the [Harford] community needed another Greene Turtle," Robert Frankis said.
They did not own the former Greene Turtle on South Main Street in downtown Bel Air, which closed several years ago, but Robert Frankis said he bought the rights to open a franchise in Bel Air after the establishment closed.
Board members noted that the Frankis brothers have been above-board operators of their Aberdeen restaurant.
"The Aberdeen location has been a great licensee," Thomson said. "You guys have done a great amount [of work] in the community, and we appreciate that. We hope to see you continue that at this [Bel Air] location."
William Frankis said they have raised about $300,000 for various community organizations during the past six-and-a-half years they have been operating Greene Turtles.
"We don't ever foresee giving that up," he said. "We're a family-oriented company and business."
The Frankis brothers plan to hold a soft opening on June 16 for "friends and family" at the Harford Mall location, which is on the Boulton Street side of the mall, with the public grand opening the following day.
Liquor board chief inspector Charlie Robbins said he is scheduled to do an alcohol awareness training with the Bel Air staff Saturday. He has held prior training sessions for staff at the Aberdeen Green Turtle.
"They've been great licensees, and they've had no problems there," Robbins said of the Aberdeen location.
Robert Frankis said 117 people have been hired for the Bel Air restaurant, and there are 78 active employees in Aberdeen, although he expects the workforce there to expand later this month.
About 550 people work for all of his Greene Turtles on a full-time, part-time and seasonal basis, he said.
Liquor board Vice Chairman Vernon Gauss Jr. praised the work that has been done on the Bel Air restaurant.
"It is a beautiful piece of work, craftsmanship," he said.