Wine bottles will stay corked and kegs will go untapped at the Southwest Diner until the restaurant is able to comply with all of the Montezuma County fire codes, the Cortez City Council decided Tuesday night.

Council members were unanimous in their decision to temporarily revoke the restaurant’s liquor license, saying that they could not allow the city to become liable for injuries or deaths that could occur at the restaurant by ignoring the fire codes.

During the show cause hearing Tuesday, District Fire Marshal Frank Cavaliere made the recommendation to council that it temporarily revoke the restaurant’s license until the owner, Eugene Zubrzycki, can complete the necessary building improvements.

"In April of 1999 the first letter was sent to Mr. Zubrzycki saying that a second exit needed to be added to the building," Cavaliere told council members. "Due to the occupancy load of the building, if the main door was ever blocked in an emergency, a second door would be needed for escape."

The fire marshal said that over the course of a year, the door violation was never taken care of and a number of other violations have occurred.

After a return inspection, a second letter was sent to Zubrzycki stating that all exit signs and smoke detectors throughout the building needed to be operable, a fire extinguisher needed to be serviced and a second door — equipped with panic hardware, which automatically unlocks when the door is pushed from the inside — needed to be installed within 30 days, Cavaliere said.

Zubrzycki was represented at the hearing by his defense attorney, George Buck, who attempted to persuade the council into letting his client maintain his liquor license.

Buck told city councilors that work had already begun on the building’s improvements and, in fact, all but one of the repairs were completed.

Buck added that revoking the diner’s liquor license would have an adverse affect on Zubrzycki’s business.

Council members, however, were not swayed by the plea.

"A revoked liquor license will have less of an adverse affect on the restaurant than dead bodies in the basement," said council member Jim Herrick.

When asked by city council members why he hadn’t made any attempt to fix the violations throughout the year, Zubrzycki said that he had "no comment."

Zubrzycki told the city council that the special door equipped with panic equipment had been ordered and would be arriving next week. The restaurant owner added that he would install a temporary door (to be left unlocked during business hours) until the correct door arrived.