By Rebecca Gaunt

Due to multiple infractions of Kennesaw’s business ordinances, the Event Lounge at 1480 Shiloh Rd. will remain closed for the duration of a 90-day suspension of its business license.

Owner Gary Brent Swanson appealed the suspension, initially recommended for 180 days, during a hearing at Monday’s City Council meeting. 

“I’m not here to not take accountability and responsibility for these things that happened because, primarily, I know it’s our responsibility as the business owner to make sure things are correct,” Swanson said during the hearing.

Swanson told the Council that inexperience and bad advice were factors in his problems. He also said he took steps to bring the business into compliance after the original citation.

In November 2022, the business was cited for renovating without a building permit. In June 2023, the Lounge was cited for operating without a certificate of occupancy or business license and for breaking packages and consuming alcohol on the premises without a license.

In October of 2024, citations were issued for exceeding the legal occupancy, creating a nuisance, and for alcohol on the premises. 

The two events that, by Swanson’s own admission, got out of hand, were held by Kennesaw State University students. According to testimony at the hearing, the events were not put on by or sanctioned by KSU.

“We’re not a club…we’re an event center where people come and rent our space out for different celebrations and events,” Swanson said.

Kennesaw police officer Scott Luther testified that students were crowding around in the parking lot and running across the road. He also testified that the building was so packed that officers were unable to enter the premises.

Not all citations were issued at the time the police intervened. Luther, the head of code enforcement, testified that some were issued later as a result of his review of bodycam footage.

Swanson suggested that he would have shut the event down immediately if he had been aware of all the violations at the time.

He pled guilty to the offenses in December 2024 and paid fines of $270 per violation. 

Upon review of the business’s track record, the Kennesaw business license manager, LaMaya Edmonds, issued the suspension notice in late December.

When asked by Swanson why she had not suspended the business immediately after the earlier infractions, Edmonds said, “We try to give the business owner the opportunity to rectify any ongoing issues, but we do keep track and record of any violations that are issued to our businesses.”

Swanson and city staff were at odds over whether he had resolved some issues prior to December and whether he had failed to appear for one of his court dates.

Taking into account testimony that closing the doors for six months would permanently shutter the business, City Council voted to let the sentences run concurrently, cutting the recommended suspension in half. Since the suspension went into effect Jan. 1, the Event Lounge will be able to reopen in April.

View the hearing in full at City Council Meeting •     Agendas & Minutes • CivicClerk.

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