Delgado bar operating without occupational license, so how did it get a liquor permit?

(Editor’s Note: Since first publication of this story, John Delgado has renewed his city occupational license  for 1913 and provided Daily Report with a copy.)
Downtown nightclub owner John Delgado does not have a current occupational license to operate his Third Street bar, 1913, Daily Report has learned.
An occupational license is required of all businesses that operate in East Baton Rouge Parish. Moreover, businesses that serve alcohol must have a current occupational license in order to receive a liquor license from the parish Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
A license must be obtained 30 days before a business opens and must be renewed annually by Jan. 1, according to the city-parish ordinance.
The city department of finance, which is in charge of issuing occupational licenses, confirms there is no current license for 1913. The office declines to discuss how long the bar has been operating without one or whether the establishment has had one in the past.
ABC Director Chris Cranford also declines to comment.
“The ABC is a law enforcement agency. We are not able to discuss matters such as this,” Cranford said on Monday.
ABC did, however, discuss the matter Monday with Delgado, contacting the attorney and former Metro Councilman to make him aware of the situation.
“I was just made aware of this yesterday by ABC,” says Delgado, in a statement to Daily Report this morning. “I thought we had renewed that license at the beginning of the year along with our ABC alcohol permit. I am going to renew it today and pay the late penalty.”
It is unclear why ABC did not confirm 1913 had a current occupational license when it renewed the bar’s alcohol permit earlier this year. A spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department says it was made aware of the situation over the weekend and has scheduled a meeting “with the appropriate regulatory agencies this week to discuss a plan of action concerning the business.”
Earlier this month, ABC notified Delgado he is delinquent in paying sales tax to the city owed by 1913 and another nearby nightclub he owns, Huey’s Bar.
Delgado and dozens of other establishment owners who are delinquent on their 2018 sales taxes are scheduled to appear before the ABC at a Aug. 23 hearing.