Columbus Council to Review Five Liquor Permit Objections Nov. 5
The City Attorney wants the state to take a hard look at permit renewals at five addresses, from North 20th Street to West Broad Street.
The public safety and criminal justice panel of Columbus City Council has set a 3 p.m. hearing on Thursday, November 5, to go over this year's liquor permit renewal objections from the City Attorney's office. The public notice, filed with the city clerk October 20, lists five new objections at 334 N. 20th St., 4755 Refugee Road, 1305 Harrisburg Pike, 2481 Petzinger Road and 5668 W. Broad St. It gives street addresses only and does not name the businesses.
The city has to file any objections with the state Division of Liquor Control by December 31 of each year. Per the notice, attorneys spend the year working with Columbus police, fire, health, building and code enforcement staff, plus the Ohio Investigative Unit, to look into permit holders tied to code violations or chronic criminal activity, which the notice defines to include violent crime, overdoses and liquor violations. Any objection Council backs by resolution is forwarded to the state, and the notice says it does not change how a business runs in the meantime.
The 2026 list is shorter than the one Council saw last December. The 2025 notice named six new objections and one carried over from 2024, all at gas stations plus one supermarket. In the minutes of that December 9 session, an assistant city attorney said roughly 200 locations had been reported that year, about 50 reached a full investigation, and six went to Council. She described what comes after a vote: the state division holds its own hearing and rules, either side can appeal, and the result can be an objection sustained or overruled, a permit forfeited, or a deal between the city and the permit holder.
Deals happen often. During 2026, Council passed separate resolutions withdrawing objections at five of last year's addresses, among them the station at 2805 W. Broad St. (Resolution 0199X-2026), the Speedway at 1165 S. High St., and Buckeye Supermarket on Walford Street.
Anyone can testify in person or in writing. The notice asks speakers to email committee staffer Pedro Mejia by noon on the day of the hearing, with a virtual option on request. The session is in Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall downtown and airs live on CTV channel 3, YouTube and Facebook Live. Accommodation requests go to the city ADA coordinator by November 2.
For people who live near those five addresses, this hearing is the public moment to tell Council what they see on the block, while the permits stay active through the state process. New permit requests reach the same clerk, as in our story on the Campus Bottleshop filing. More citywide items sit on the Columbus page and in the City feed.
