A local restaurateur who says she is accused of violating her lease is now facing a new challenge: A restriction placed on the entertainment she’s allowed to have at her establishment.
A local restaurateur who says she is accused of violating her lease is now facing a new challenge: A restriction placed on the entertainment she’s allowed to have at her establishment.
Monique Rose Sneed, owner of the Latin and Cajun fusion restaurant, La’Caj, in Prince George’s County, says live entertainment was a feature that helped draw people to the location, from customers to members of the community who gathered to listen in public spaces neighboring the eatery.
But events in recent weeks prompted Sneed to start a Change.org petition.
She took to Instagram to solicit community support for the petition which states, in part, that “La’Caj Seafood Restaurant at Restaurant Row in Camp Springs is facing efforts that could jeopardize its future despite operating with the appropriate licenses and serving as a positive contributor to the community.”
“La’Caj has become more than a restaurant. It has become a destination where families, friends, neighbors, professionals, and visitors come together to enjoy great food, culture, music, and fellowship,” the petition also states.
What started as an issue with her landlord took on another dimension after the police were called to the restaurant and the liquor board was contacted.
“Now it’s become a county problem,” Sneed said.
She was told that the county hadn’t been getting complaints about the restaurant’s patio entertainment. But since they learned about those gripes, La’Caj was told by the Liquor Board that they “can’t have entertainment on a patio. At all,” Sneed said.
But she tells WTOP complaints were few when they had live entertainment.
“This isn’t every day, this isn’t six times a week, this isn’t for five hours, this is every other Thursday, when weather permits,” she said.
Sneed says noting that the two sets the band played equaled two hours on those Thursdays, and that they’ve had live music on the patio for nearly three years.
“To tell me I can’t play music on an outside patio when I have an entertainment license is taking 60 seats away from my restaurant,” she said.
Sneed says her focus now is seeking clarity from the county Liquor Board. She’s “more concerned about the county being very clear on what their rules are for the entertainment license, which is Rule 75.”
“I’m not getting [clarity] from the Liquor Board … a lot of these things are at their discretion, which I understand, but for someone like me, having so much of my business rely on somebody’s discretion is where I’m looking for some help,” Sneed said.
“I’m not asking for special treatment, I don’t want them to circumvent a rule for me,” Sneed said. But she’s seeking clearness “because it does not say in their very own rule what’s being communicated to me.”.
“I have been in the county since 2016, providing good brands and businesses to the area. I just kind of think I deserve a conversation,” Sneed said.
WTOP has reached out to Prince George’s County Liquor Board for comment.
Sneed tells WTOP the petition originated after she received a letter from her landlord’s attorney that claimed the eatery violated its lease.
“There’s a clause that says you cannot have employees or patrons gathering or loitering … basically they cannot be gathering outside of your establishment, that you’re responsible for that. And if that happens, that’s a default of the lease, and that’s what they leaned on, saying we had defaulted our lease,” Sneed said.
“I did try to explain that those were not our patrons, they did not patronize La’Caj. That’s how we landed where we are now,” Sneed said.
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