By JOSEPH B. NADEAU

 WOONSOCKET – The owner of the Asian Gourmet Restaurant at 754 Front Street lost his business’s liquor license Monday night after members of the City Council voiced strong concern about is recent operation.

 City Council President noted at the outset of the discussion that several licensing requirements such as local signs offs on payment of water and sewer bills and taxes as well as state corporate certifications had delayed the renewal from consideration with other local businesses. The Council, he added, also received a report from the police department of another disturbance at the business occurring after several earlier incidents  prompted a three-day suspension of the license in October.

 “I think this is of great concern to the council that problems continue to occur in the operation of your license,” he said.

 While acknowledging there have been problems at the business, Chow maintained during the hearing he had not been actively managing the business at those times and instead had been in the process of selling it to other parties running the operation.

 “The people running it were supposed to buy it from me,” Chow told the Council.

 Chow said he went so far as to file that change with the Secretary of State’s office and state agencies regulating the business. The change, however, was not made at the city level, he added, and he remained named as the license holder under a confusing arrangement.

 City Council members Roger Jalette and Stella Brien, an attorney, both said they saw the dual listings of ownership of the license as a possible violation of state liquor control laws.

“No one can use your license but you,” Jalette said.

 Brien asked Chow whether he had actually transacted a sale of the business to the new owners and recorded it or if instead he still owned it.

When he responded he was still the owner of record with the city, Brien said it appeared he would be in violation.

 “My concern is the ownership of this entity,” Brien said while adding she could not approve the license’ renewal without further research into that question.

Council President Leo T. Fontaine, John F. Ward and William Schneck, Suzanne J. Vadenais and Christopher Beauchamp also voice opposition to the renewal during the discussion.

Fontaine said that regardless of who had been operating the restaurant when the problems occurred, Chow remained the owner of record and therefore remained responsible for those incidents.

 “You have always been the entity holding this license,” Fontaine said. As a result, Chow was also liable for the violations of state law that had occurred, according to Fontaine.

 “The best course of action at this time is not to renew this license,” Fontaine said. The owner could consult with an attorney and reapply at some point if he chose to do that, Fontaine added.

 The council originally cited the business for being open at 3 a.m. in violation of its license on Sept. 21, after police found a crowd of people at the business while responding to a fight in progress and also cited the operation for a second incident on the following night.

 Police returned the business again for an after hours violation on Oct. 21, after the first violation hearing had been held and found a crowd of 20 people at the business at 3:21 a.m.

 Chow requested the Council grant him some additional time to correct operation problems with a new owner but in the end did not object to the disapproval of his license renewal request.

 “I never liked the idea of operating it as a bar anyway,” he said while noting he will continue to seek a new buyer willing to return the Asian Gourmet a full-time restaurant operation. “I can’t blame them,” Chow said of the City Council’s stated concerns.