The Barn owner Peter Gochis said he is confident that the state liquor commission will reverse the establisment’s May 24 convictions at an appeal hearing Oct. 6.

Greg Sparrow, DeKalb mayor and liquor commissioner, found The Barn, 1215 Blackhawk Road, guilty of charging a cover and allowing at least three minors into the bar area in February.

Five days after the May 24 hearing, The Barn’s cover charge policy was called into question again. City attorney Norma Guess said the DeKalb Police Department cited The Barn for allegedly charging a cover on May 29.

In November 2003, the DeKalb City Council passed an ordinance barring Class E establishments, including The Barn, from charging a cover.

The appeal hearing represents the first challenge to Sparrow’s rulings as liquor commissioner.

“I’m a little perplexed as to what they [The Barn] think they’re going to appeal on,” Sparrow said.

Gochis said patrons were only charged cover to enter the restricted bar area at the south side of the building.

Restaurant patrons were not charged to sit and eat in the dining room on the north side of the building, he said.

“Why would I charge someone to sit down and eat when they hadn’t even tasted my food? It doesn’t make sense,” Gochis said.

On May 29, Gochis said The Barn was having a DJ from Chicago play and therefore was allowed to charge a cover. Cover charges are legal if an establishment is levying the charge to recoup entertainment expenses, Gochis said.

According to published materials from the state liquor commission, local governments like DeKalb may make their own policy.

The Barn’s appeal before the state commission was originally scheduled for the middle of summer, but the commission granted The Barn a continuance in June or July, Sparrow said.

A liquor commission hearing about the May 29 incident was scheduled for August.

Brad Waller, a DeKalb attorney representing the DeKalb Liquor Commission, advised Sparrow to postpone the hearing until after The Barn’s October appearance before the state commission, Sparrow said.

“It is my sincere hope these guys [The Barn] aren’t going to play games and ask for another continuance,” he said.

As a result of the May 24 guilty findings, The Barn’s liquor license was suspended June 11 and 12. The suspension meant the bar could not serve alcohol, but it was not prohibited from serving food that Friday and Saturday.

The establishment was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for having minors in the bar area. Sparrow said he also ordered The Barn to post a sign that notified patrons of the city ordinance prohibiting cover charges at restaurants with Class E licenses.

At the same hearing, Sparrow found The Barn not guilty of charges that the bar failed to ask the minors for identification and served them alcohol.

All DeKalb liquor licenses expire and must be renewed Sept. 1.

Sparrow said neither The Barn’s convictions nor the most recent alleged violation would prevent the bar from renewing its Class E license.