GPD: Scarfone warned of arrest for violating sidewalk cafe ordinance

Greensboro city administration responds to complaints by city councilmembers Zack Matheny (District 3) and Mike Barber (District 4) about police enforcement of the sidewalk cafe ordinance this afternoon with an 18-page set of memos and other documents.

At the top of the stack is a memo dated July 31 from Cpl. KB Johnson to Assistant Chief Harold Scott that, according to Matheny, innacurately describes him as being "inside the bar" on the night when Lee Meekins, general manager at Much/Carmine's, was arrested. Matheny did acknowledge that he dined at Carmine's and witnessed the arrest.

The Johnson memo, entitled "Encounters With Much Management Due to Sidewalk Cafe Violations," indicates that Much/Carmine's owner Rocco Scarfone has been disregarding police efforts to bring his restaurant into compliance since late April, and that Scarfone was repeatedly warned that his employees would face arrest if his business continued to violate the ordinance.

Here's an entry for Thursday, April 24:

"Officer TJ Tepedino and I approached Winifred [Lee] Meekins (manager) and Rocky Scarfone (owner) to request that they begin complying with the city ordinance. This was in response to crowd management issues we had experienced on the previous evening. Mr. Scarfone and Mr. Meekins were both present and Mr. Scarfone stated he wasn't aware that there was a timeframe attached to his sidewalk cafe. We showed him the ordinance and told him that we would give him two weeks to adjust to the change and also to give him an opportunity to request a change of the ordinance. I told Mr. Scarfone that evening that in two weeks we would enforce the ordinance by citing them if they continued to violate it."

Scarfone turned up in Greensboro city council chambers on July 15 with lawyer Derek Allen of the Brooks Pierce law firm. Allen requested an amendment to the sidewalk cafe ordinance to allow businesses like the one owned by Scarfone to keep tables and chairs out on the sidewalk until closing time at around 3 a.m. Councilman Barber was ready to move an amendment but his colleagues prevailed upon him to allow the matter to be tabled for further study. District 5 Councilwoman Trudy Wade joined Barber in arguing for relaxing regulations to help downtown business owners.

Cpl. Johnson's memo suggests that Scarfone both openly defied the ordinance and did not understand it, indicating that his business has had a string of run-ins this year with the Greensboro police. The memo itemizes

• A police citation for operating the cafe outside of prescribed hours on May 9;
• An enforcement action by state Alcohol Law Enforcement to shut down the cafe after midnight on May 10;
• A voided police citation for operating the cafe after midnight on May 24; and
• A police citation for operating the cafe after midnight on May 31.

Cpl. Johnson said he spoke personally with Scarfone on May 24 when a subordinate was writing a citation to Meekins for operating the cafe after midnight.

"Mr. Scarfone stated that he intended to pay the citations off and continue to keep his cafe open beyond hours," Johnson writes. "I advised Mr. Scarfone that the law he was breaking was not a civil violation but a criminal misdemeanor. I told him that evening that I would arrest him if he did not comply with the ordinance."

Cpl. Johnson says police met with Assistant City Manager Jim Westmoreland and Downtown Greensboro Inc. President Ed Wolverton on June 4.

"By that time Mr. Scarfone had retained an attorney and was alleging that we were bullying him because his establishments were patronized by African-Americans," Cpl. Johnson writes. "I outlined at that meeting everything that had transpired up until that point. The consensus at that meeting was that we had been more than accommodating to the management of the restaurant and any further violations would result in arrest. Afterwards Sgt. Hunter instructed Cpl. Hollis to go by and speak again with the management of Much. Cpl. Hollis spoke to them that evening and relayed that further violations would be dealt with by a physical arrest of whoever was in charge of the business at the time."

In July, various city council members got involved in the conflict, and police contend that Scarfone's business continued to defy the ordinance.

Cpl. Johnson writes that on July 16, the night after Scarfone appeared with his lawyer in city council chambers, Sgt. Steve Hunter escorted District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small downtown and "both observed that the Much Cafe was open beyond 11 p.m. and that there were people drinking wine in the cafe. No enforcement action was taken."

And on July 26, Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat and at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins "were touring the downtown area.... I was escorting Councilwoman Groat. At 10 minutes after midnight I drove by the Much cafe and it was still open and operating. I took no enforcement action and the cafe was later closed." YES! Weekly Editor Brian Clarey, who also accompanied Groat, confirms that the cafe was operating beyond the cutoff time.

On July 30, Cpl Johnson writes that Sgt. Steve Hunter cited Meekins for operating the cafe beyond hours, and told him any further violations would result in his arrest.

Which brings the story up to last Thursday, as told by Sgt. Hunter in an e-mail to Assistant Chief Scott the following morning.

"I was traveling north on Elm Street from Washington Street," Hunter writes. "As I passed through the 100 block of South Elm Street I observed that the sidewalk cafe at Much Restaurant [was] still in operation. The area was still roped off and all chairs and tables were occupying a large portion of the sidewalk. I checked the time on my cellular telephone and the time displayed was 10:07 p.m. I parked in the right turn lane just north of the restaurant and activated the flashers on the police vehicle."

Hunter said he asked someone at the podium in front of the building for the person "in charge of the restaurant."

"Moments later Winifred [Lee] Meekins appeared and said something to the effect of what is the problem," Hunter writes. "Meekins was accompanied by two or three other acquaintances, I am not certain if they were employees or not. I then told Mr. Meekins that his cafe was still open after the mandated closing time. Meekins then began to argue that the cafe was not open and I responded by telling him that he was under arrest. Meekins turned his back to me and began started [SIC] to use his cell phone stating that he was going to call his lawyer. I told Meekins that I did not care who he called but he needed to place his hands on the wall so that I could begin arrest procedures. Meekins turned to face the north wall of the restaurant and told someone to go and get 'Rocky.' I then told Meekins to place his hands on the wall and performed a quick search of his person. On the [community resource team] channel I radioed Cpl. Hollis and advised him that I needed a car with a shield to transport a prisoner. I asked Meekins to place his left hand behind his back and he complied. After getting one cuff on Rocky Scarfone appeared and asked Meekins what was going on. Meekins then told Scarfone that he was being arrested for not closing the cafe. Mr. Scarfone then remarked that we have until 11 o'clock. Meekins then stated, 'No, it's 10 o'clock.'"

Matheny said on Monday that he requested a list of violations of the sidewalk cafe ordinance.

"I do agree that this establishment has been treated unfairly," he said. "I was there and I witnessed [Meekins' arrest]. There area a couple of other establishments that I frequent in the morning, and they're technically in violation, but they're treated differently." The ordinance stipulates that businesses may not operate before 11 a.m.

Matheny went on to characterize the arrest as "excessive."

Cpl. Johnson's memo lists a dozen businesses with sidewalk cafe permits, and notes only three incidents: once when Rim operated its sidewalk cafe beyond the cutoff time, and twice when the Green Bean neglected to put a rope around its sidewalk tables. In all three incidents, Cpl. Johnson said, the problems were corrected immediately after an officer spoke to a business manager.