The owner of the Wild Horse Saloon, who opened last weekend in defiance of public health orders, said she will not open this weekend but vowed to keep fighting the regulations.
Because of a high number of COVID-19 cases, La Plata County is classified in the Level Red category for public health restrictions.
Under Level Red, bars are required to close unless they serve food. However, those establishments cannot offer indoor dining and are limited to offering only takeout and delivery services, as well as outdoor dining.
Wild Horse Saloon owner Amber Gilchrist-Morris opened the downtown Durango bar the nights of Dec. 4 and 5, prompting a complaint to the state Department of Revenue’s Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement division.
Gilchrist-Morris said in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday she will not reopen again this weekend, fearing she could lose her liquor license, as other bars have across the state for defying public health orders.
“I am an easy target because of my liquor license, it’s just the truth,” she said. “I can’t survive without my liquor license. ... I can’t afford to lose that.”
Gilchrist-Morris said she would comply with the public health order “for the time being.” She said a number of businesses in La Plata County intend to fight the regulations in court.
“This does not mean we’re giving up,” she said. “We have realized the only way we can beat these people are at their own game, and that’s in the courts, and we’re going to use a piece of paper to rule them like they ruled us.”
Gilchrist-Morris said businesses have started to mobilize to fight back against the orders. She said a website, called LaPlataCountyBusinessAlliance.com, was created to help provide businesses with legal advice about how to “fight this war.”
She also said a rally to support businesses will be held in Buckley Park on Friday, similar to the “Business Lives Matter” rally held last week. She said the rally will continue each week for the indefinite future.
“They are using fear to control us and we can’t allow them to do it,” she said. “Locally, we are building and we’re going to bring this draconian (expletive) down.”
Meghan Tanis, spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Revenue, said Friday the investigation involving the Wild Horse Saloon is pending.
“We cannot comment at this time,” she said.
In a similar situation, the town of Lyons Board of Trustees voted this week to revoke the business license and suspend the liquor license of a bar called Lyons Den Restaurant and Tap House that refused to close to indoor service, Fox 31 reported.
The state Department of Revenue’s Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement division then raided and seized all of the liquor inside Lyons Den, according to Fox 31.
Wild Horse Saloon is one of a few La Plata County businesses that have openly defied public health orders.
The other highly publicized case is CJ’s Diner, which stayed open to indoor dining but later closed after a District Court judge ordered local law enforcement to stop the restaurant’s in-person dining by “whatever means necessary.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
