Almost one year after the Howard County Board of License Commissioners shut down a Jessup liquor store for selling beer to a minor, the board has granted another license for the same establishment.

The ruling allows Joseph H. and Sook H. Chung to reopen Mel's Liquors in the 7900 block of Route 175.

Paul H. Rappaport, an Ellicott City attorney who represented the couple, predicted that his clients would run a safe and lawful operation.

"When the store was sold to the previous owners, it sort of went downhill," said Rappaport, whose family in the 1950s originally owned the property. "That was the exception rather than the rule. These new owners are going to be in that store all of the time, and I expect them to be an asset to the community."

Last December, the board revoked Jung Ran Kim's license after learning the store had sold beer to an underage customer.

Board members Mary C. Lorsung and Dennis R. Schader were absent for the vote on the license application by Summit 175 Corp., but the remaining three members, Darrel E. Drown, C. Vernon Gray and Charles C. Feaga, unanimously approved the request, according to a decision and order released this week.

Pub Date: 12/03/98