A lawsuit filed in Hinds County Chancery Court by a Vicksburg restaurant owner against the city and the Mississippi Department of Revenue over a decision forcing him and three other city businesses to cut off alcohol sales at 2 a.m. is expected to be dismissed because a compromise has been reached, the city’s attorney said.

The announcement comes two days after Hinds County Chancellor Patricia Wise ordered David Belden’s lawsuit against the city and the Revenue Department rescheduled because she believed she needed more time to hear testimony in the case. Belden, who owns KJ’s River Town Grille, filed the suit against the city and the state Jan. 8.

City Attorney Nancy Thomas said the compromise was reached after discussions between all parties in the suit.

“What we have agreed to is, Sunday through Wednesday, they’re going to close at 2 a.m. the following morning, and then Thursday, Friday and Saturday, it would be 3 a.m. the following morning,” Thomas said. In return, she said, Jamie D. Travis, Belden’s attorney, will file a motion to dismiss the suit.

“We put our heads together and came up with something that we could all live with,” she said. “Our goal is to have a peaceful and quiet area downtown so the people (living downtown) can sleep, and their goal is to make money, and we’re trying to find a medium for everything.”

She said the agreement has to be approved by the Department of Revenue, which has jurisdiction over alcohol sales. She said the board is expected to pass a resolution asking the state to approve the time change either at a special meeting or its Feb. 2 meeting.

Belden declined to discuss the specifics of the agreement because he had not talked with his attorney.

“My attorney and the city were in negotiations today,” he said Thursday afternoon. “We never wanted to sue the city, but we were just trying to protect our business. The government and the city have far more resources than we do, so we did agree to come to a compromise, and I do appreciate the mayor and the aldermen trying to meet me somewhere in the middle.”

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the agreement was a good move for the city, the business and its patrons.

“Rather than closing at 2 o’clock at times when they get their biggest volume (of business), they get an hour extra, and at the same time, we don’t have to litigate,” he said. “Any time you can agree on something of this latitude rather than litigate, the taxpayer always wins.”

He commended Thomas for her work in reaching the settlement.

“The whole objective is to provide the best public safety we can for the city and the citizens of Vicksburg. And the closing down of nightclubs at 2 o’clock is a means to do it, I’m willing to do it. Now that we have a resolution, I’m willing to work with the police chief and the police department and make sure that every aspect of Vicksburg is safe.

“Now we can refocus ourselves to crime. I’m very serious about zero tolerance of crime in Vicksburg, Miss.”

Belden filed his suit after the Department of Revenue on Dec. 19 restricted alcohol sales at four businesses in the city — KJ’s, Monsour’s at the Biscuit Company, LD’s Restaurant and the Beechwood Restaurant — cutting off alcohol sales at 2 a.m. at the city’s request. All four have resort status.

Resort status is granted by the Mississippi Department of Revenue and allows a business to sell alcohol 24 hours a day.

The Department of Revenue can, however, at the request of a municipality, restrict the hours businesses with resort status can sell alcohol. The move does not revoke the resort status, which is attached to the property the business occupies.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Dec. 10 passed a resolution asking the state to restrict the hours of the four restaurants and  prohibit selling alcohol after 2 a.m. At the time of the resolution, the board said the move was done to improve safety in the downtown area.

The resolution sought to restrict alcohol sales “for all resort areas and permittees and clubs within the City of Vicksburg with the exception of those casinos and hotels which are under the jurisdiction of of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.”

After the hours of alcohol sale were restricted, the business owners said they were never told about the plan. Flaggs and North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield Monday disputed the owners’ claims, saying they told them in advance what they were going to do.