NORFOLK, Va - Norfolk City Council voted to revoke Scotty Quixx's Bar & Nightclub special exception permit, which allows Scotty Quixx to operate as a nightclub and serve alcohol late at night.
With Scotty Quixx losing its permit, it is now forced to close until it obtains a new zoning certificate to operate as a restaurant. If and when that restaurant zoning is in hand, Scotty Quixx could then operate without alcohol sales and with a nightly closing time of midnight.
The city council voted 5-2 to shut down Scotty Quixx, revoking the permit on Tuesday. Councilman Paul Riddick and Councilwoman Danica Royster voted not to revoke Scotty Quixx's permit. Councilman Martin Thomas abstained from the vote.
In a statement, city officials say Scotty Quixx's reporting of their non-alcoholic sales to Virginia ABC doesn't equate to what they've reported to the city on meal tax forms.
Virginia ABC requirements say at least 45 percent of sales must be from food or non-alcoholic drink sales. The city says the discrepancy means Scotty Quixx is either selling more alcohol than it's supposed to, not reporting sales correctly to the city, or both.
"Scotty Quixx as a business has timely submitted all of its meals taxes to the commissioner of revenue on time each month," Norfolk Assistant Attorney Katherine Taylor said.
The city says the discrepancy means Scotty Quixx was either selling more alcohol than it's supposed to or not reporting sales correctly to the city, or both.
"The total gross sales reported to the city through commissioner of revenue for the meals tax is lower than the amount reported to ABC. Council, you have been provided with those specific numbers as they are confidential," Taylor said.
The attorney for Scotty Quixx, Richard Ottinger, didn’t say why the nightclub’s reporting didn’t match up when he spoke before the city council.
"We don’t know why the numbers don’t match up. It’s the city’s responsibility to show there was a meals tax violation," Ottinger tells News 3's Leondra Head.
"We did not underreport our meals tax to the city of Norfolk," Chris Johnson, the co-owner of Scotty Quixx said.
The owners of Scotty Quixx said they offered to work with the city to avoid a revocation hearing.
"We’ve called the city, day after day after day to try to get an explanation. If there’s a fine, we’ll pay it. You want to know how many calls I got back, zero," Ragas said.
The owners of Scotty Quixx say they plan to take action.
"What they did was totally unfair. We plan to pursue whatever legal action we need to," Ragas said.
Scotty Quixx is the second nightclub to be shut down in downtown Norfolk in the last month.
"To be clear, Scotty Quixx is not Legacy where at the last council meeting we saw a video of disturbing violence inside and alleged serious safety violations. Scotty Quixx is a responsible corporate citizen and neighbor," Ottinger said.
The owners of Scotty Quixx hoped to stay open as the city targets its status as a nightclub. This is now the third place to recently be closed following Cultureand Legacy Lounge.
