Kodiak's two municipal governments are moving forward with formally protesting a second restaurant license held by the owner of Peking Restaurant in downtown Kodiak. It’s the latest development in what’s become a tangled process to open up two of the four local restaurant or eating place licenses.
The City Council discussed the Second Floor Restaurant’s license renewal for the year 2024 through the end of 2025 during a work session on Jan. 16. The council is scheduled to finalize its letter of protest during a regular meeting on Jan. 23.
The eatery is located upstairs in the same building as Peking and is owned by the same person, Sook C. Yun who is also known as Sung Kim.
Councilmember Bob Stanford told the group that without being able to look over all the sales tax information for Peking Restaurant’s license, he wanted to protest the Second Floor license renewal.
“Because I don’t have data and I’m not going to be fooled again, I believe that we should protest this for the reason that we need to get commerce opened up," Stanford stated.
Peking’s license was already renewed through the end of 2025 by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in November despite the City of Kodiak’s objection. The state board chair stated at the time that he did not agree with the process the city council went through to protest Peking's license renewal.
Neither the Second Floor Restaurant nor the Peking Restaurant have been in operation for several years. Yun submitted a waiver of operations for 2022 and 2023 to the state along with a license renewal application for the Second Floor, citing issues with the building’s landlord that prevented the restaurant from operating during those years. She did not respond to KMXT’s emails asking for comment.
But by the time the state reviews the council’s protest of the restaurant or eating place license renewal, it will also have to decide if Second Floor’s license will be transferred to another business in Kodiak.
The Second Floor Restaurant submitted a transfer application to the state last month requesting its license go to Nuniaq Restaurant.
According to the acting director of the Alaska Marijuana Control Office, Lizzie Kubitz, the restaurant’s application to transfer ownership was considered complete on Jan. 8. Both the Borough and City were notified of the transfer by Jan. 8 2025.
The city’s attorney, Charles Cacciola, said the city was given notice of the transfer application earlier this month on Jan. 8 and the council has 60 days to protest, if it chooses. The state will ultimately make the final decision on both the license renewal and on the transfer.
Since Thursday’s meeting was a work session, the council could not take any formal action. But at its next regular meeting on Jan. 23, the group could formally protest the Second Floor Restaurant’s license renewal with a letter, based on the license not being used.
Meanwhile the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly voiced its own protest of the restaurant’s license renewal on Dec. 19 and sent a formal letter to the state after its Jan. 16 meeting.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is set to hear these protests on the Second Floor’s license renewal and Peking Restaurant’s license during its next meeting on Feb. 4.
