Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has denied a liquor license application from the owner of the controversial Kirkwood Bar & Grill.
Reed made his decision based on neighborhood concerns, his spokeswoman, Sonji Jacobs Dade, told East Atlanta Patch.
He made the decision after "carefully considering neighborhood concerns that have been brought to him," Dade said.
Reed's decision comes after a December hearing of the city's License Review Board regarding the alcohol permit. The board voted 2 for, 1 against and 1 abstention.
The application then went to the mayor for review.
David Johnson, owner of the bar at 1963 Hosea Williams Dr. SE, was unaware of the decision until contacted by Patch.
"I'm shocked," he said. "That's unfortunate."
Johnson said he would have no further comment until after getting official notice from the city.
The denial — a rare occurrence for liquor license applications — comes after months of an ongoing war of words between some Kirkwood residents who said Johnson repeatedly violated city codes governing his temporary liquor license and that the restaurant was .
They also said he made physical and operational changes to the restaurant that were in violation of association rules at Kirkwood Station, the mixed-used condominium and retail complex where Johnson's bar is an anchor business.
Johnson had countered his opponents object to his establishment only because he is black and that have been trying to run him out of Kirkwood.
