The Oregon Liquor Control Commission said Friday it intends to cancel the beer-selling license of an Albany store, the US Market No. 180 at 1709 Hill St. S.E.

The agency said the store had sold alcohol to a minor in violation of a recent order to use “age-verification equipment.”

But Keith Singh, manager of the store, said Friday night the clerk had used the equipment and simply had failed to notice that a customer was under age.

Singh said the store intended to challenge the lifting of the license and ask for a hearing.

According to the OLCC, the license is held by Parveen Parveen and Lal Sidhu of US Market No. 180, LLC.

OLCC said the license had been granted with the restriction that all licensees and employees use age verification equipment to check the age of any person who appears under 26 when trying to buy alcohol.

The incident leading to the threatened license cancellation happened on April 11, according to the OLCC.

The store was one of 12 Albany businesses that sold to an under-age test buyer during a “minor sales check” conducted by the OLCC and the Albany police. Some 56 other businesses passed the check in April.

“The restriction for the age-verification equipment was recently placed on the license as a way to work with the licensee to prevent canceling their license,” said James Lynch, the OLCC’s Salem regional manager. “Getting this violation so soon doesn’t show willingness to stop selling alcohol to minors.”

The licensee has 30 days from the date of the notice to request an administrative hearing. Singh, the store manager, said that process was already under way.

Democrat-Herald