Two Federal Hill businesses apply to stay open past midnight. Councilman writes letter of opposition

BALTIMORE - Two businesses that recently applied for a license to operate past midnight received a letter of opposition from the councilman who represents their district. 

On Thursday, Baltimore City Councilman Eric Costello posted on "X," formerly known as Twitter, that alerted those in Federal Hill of two "Late-Night Commercial Operations" applications that have deadlines to oppose the issuance of the license quickly approaching. 

Certain businesses in the city are required to have an LNCO to operate after midnight, according to city code. 

The two locations that are up for consideration are Cloud Chasers, a vape shop on S. Charles Street and Pizza Boli's, one block away on E. Cross Street. 

"As part of the application review process, if 10 or more property owners, residents, or commercial tenants oppose the issuance of the license, the Department of Finance must deny the issuance," Costello said on X. 

The post went on to state that Costello's office wrote a letter of opposition for both applications and explained how others could do the same.

The deadline to submit a letter of opposition for Cloud Chasers is March 4, while the deadline for Pizza Boli's is Feb. 29. 

The managers for the respective businesses allege to have been unaware of the requirement before the city reached out. 

"We're local. We're brand new. I was trying to see the hours and how the flow would work. I wasn't staying open late on weekdays," Chloe McAleer, Cloud Chaser's manager said. "It was just the weekends from Thursday in the summertime and Friday, Saturday, Sunday for the bar traffic."

"I have no clue what's going on," Bakht Khan, Pizza Boli's manager said. "He gave me the citation paper right here and he told me that we need the late-night license. Thursday, Friday, Saturday... Those are the three main days for this business. So, if we don't get the permit, that would be a lot of hurt for the business, definitely."

Councilman Costello sent this statement to WJZ about his decision to oppose both applications.

"Cloud Chasers is a vape shop. There is absolutely no need for them to be open beyond midnight," Costello said. "If you walk by there late in the evening on a weekend, you will see large gatherings congregating there making a decent amount of noise. The opposition to Pizza Boli's is related to opposition from Federal Hill Main Street's Executive Committee and the fact that they have been very far from a good neighbor. It is difficult considering giving additional privileges to someone who fails to do the basic mandatory things such as pass health inspections, clean up trash, and maintain their property."