TUSCALOOSA, AL — Twelve25 has voluntarily dropped a lawsuit against the City of Tuscaloosa after a federal judge last week ruled that the city was within its right to enforce new occupancy requirements on the bar and restaurant on The Strip.
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The motion for voluntary dismissal was filed in United States District Court on Monday.
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As Patch previously reported, the owners of the bar, CMB Holdings Group LLC, claim the business was unduly targeted by the Tuscaloosa City Council when it adopted a new ordinance earlier this month that owners believe intentionally took aim at the bar’s dual-occupancy limits — one for during the day when it operates as a restaurant and another for when it exclusively operates as a bar at night.
Being a minority-owned business, CMB Holdings Group also argued that the measures were implemented because Twelve25 was attracting business away from White-owned establishments.
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It must be noted that the ordinance change and subsequent lawsuit followed the fatal shooting on Grace Street in January that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
This prompted the capital murder arrests of Maryland native Michael Davis and former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and, as Patch previously reported, the two groups involved in the shooting had been patrons of Twelve25 in the hours prior to the shooting.
Following the new ordinance going into effect this month, Twelve25 was issued a new occupancy certificate setting its maximum occupancy at 287 — a number that the bar’s owners claim would cause irreparable damage to the establishment. This is regardless of if the restaurant is in operation or if tables and chairs have been moved to open floor space when it functions primarily as a bar.
After arguing that the city rushed to enforce the ordinance, while failing to properly advertise the proposed changes, CMB Holdings Group requested the temporary restraining order, along with compensatory damages approved by the court.
Instead, United States District Court Judge Annemarie Carney Axon last Thursday denied the request for the temporary restraining order, effectively ruling that the City of Tuscaloosa could continue to enforce the new ordinance.
In a statement posted to the Twelve25 Instagram page on Friday, the owners argued many of the same points in its complaint against the city.
“The City intentionally targeted Twelve25, without a legitimate basis, and failed to even notify Twelve25 of the possibility of this change or allow us to he heard before a decision was made,” the post says. “In reality, this unlawful Ordinance was passed and wrongfully enforced against Twelve 25 because we are a minority-owned business, and because we attract the most diverse group of customers of any establishment in the history of the Strip. Our customer base includes many members of the Black and student-athlete communities, who historically have not had a place to frequent in or around the Strip.”
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