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May 6, 2008 - 8:39PM
San Tan restaurant to celebrate legal dancing
Comments | RecommendSarah J. Boggan, Tribune
San Tan Flat owners Dale and Spencer Bell are so excited their legal tango with Pinal County is over that they’re having a party — and everyone is invited.
San Tan Flat can the dance night away
San Tan Flat dispute heads to courthouse
The Pinal County restaurant won a nearly two-year legal battle last week over dancing outside. Pinal County Superior Court Judge William O’Neil ruled the open-air steakhouse does not morph into a dance hall every time someone sways to live music on the patio.
The Bells plan to begin the celebration by removing signs that had warned patrons about the “dance police” in their courtyard.
“There’s an awful lot of people out there that supported us,” Dale Bell said. “We wanted to provide a venue for a celebration for the verdict.”
Pinal County officials maintain the issue was not over dancing but the restaurant’s impact on neighbors.
Alden “Ros” Rosbrook, who lives near the San Tan Mountains, said the neighbors continue to be concerned about noise generated from San Tan Flat.
“There’s nothing we can do about it, I guess,” he said. “We thought this would turn out different, but we’re resigned to the fact that he did what he did and he won.”
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors and a county hearing officer found Bell in violation of a 1960s dance hall ordinance subjecting the restaurant to a $700 fine for every day someone danced. The ruling overturned those decisions.
The Bells’ attorney, Jennifer Perkins of the Institute for Justice, said the party will celebrate economic liberty and the end of “ridiculous harassment” by the county. The Virginia-based institute, which has an Arizona chapter, has taken up numerous cases against government actions it contends infringe on individual rights.
“The judge stood up for what’s right,” Dale Bell said. “We’re proud of him, and we’re proud that he saw right from wrong.”
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