For those who made the final round in the process of awarding a package store license in the city of Cleveland, Thursday night’s selection process was the end of a long journey.
As Cleveland Mayor Josh Turner said at the outset of the lottery, this “started well over a year ago with the first discussions.”
Four applicants made it to the lottery selection that was conducted by Wayne Tuck of Walker, Pierce, and Tuck CPA firm in Gainesville.
The city is only allowing three stores to operate.
Tuck had a representative of each application select a numbered ball; that ball was placed in a wire cage that, when turned, allowed one ball to fall out at a time.
The first license went to Barth Gandhi, whose store will be located at 167 West Kytle Stree. The second license was awarded to James Edward Hatcher and Calvin Dudley Dalton. Their business will be located at 262/272 South Main Street. Sarthi Gandhi also received a license. His store will be located at 897 South Main Street (in the Colonial Shopping Center).
The remaining applicant who failed to be selected was Gerald Singer, Neil, and Margaret McLean.
“These businesses have 12 months to get their business license, everything in order and operational, according to the code,” said Cleveland City Administrator Kevin Harris. “If there is an emergency or something potentially goes wrong, they have a chance to appeal to our city clerk for an additional six months.”
