Ryan Hancox, who has owned Lou-Bea’s Pizza on Delaware Avenue in Albany since 1998 and is a member of the city’s Planning Board, has applied for a liquor license at the Lark Tavern, which has been closed since a fire last May.

Hancox tells me he has a verbal agreement with the building’s owner, the local optician Mike DiNapoli, to open a business called Flo’s Lark Tavern. The name refers to Florence Maugere, who ran the tavern from 1974 until her death in 1996. According to Hancox, DiNapoli has assured him that Tess Collins, who leased the building and operated Tess’ Lark Tavern there from early 2004 until the fire last spring, no longer has a claim on the property and that it is available for lease.

Collins and her attorney dispute that contention and say Hancox cannot open a bar in the building because Collins has a valid liquor license for the premises and owns the name Lark Tavern.

“I still have a valid lease. It’s always been my intention to go back to the Lark Tavern,” says Collins. Since September she has managed McGeary’s pub in downtown Albany, and McGeary’s principal owner, Larry Davis, recently made her a partner in the business.

Further, says Collins’ attorney, James D. Linnan, “We own the name. … I have a copy of the bill of sale in my files, and we will not consent to another business opening with ‘Lark Tavern’ in the name.”

Collins’ company, Lady of Spirit Inc., has an active liquor license for the property, located at 453 Madison Ave., near the intersection with Lark Street, according to the State Liquor Authority database. It expires March 31, 2012, records show.

Two licenses would not be granted for the same location, an SLA spokesman tells me. If a licensee abandons a property or a landlord can otherwise show that the licensee has no legal claim to the property, the license would be canceled and a new one could be applied for, according to the spokesman.

“We have a valid license and a valid lease, and we have no intention of surrendering either,” Linnan says.

Hancox says he is aware that Collins has an active liquor license for the Lark Tavern building, but he says he has been told by DiNapoli that Collins’ lease was voided by the fire and thus her license will be canceled by the SLA.

“There is a disagreement as to the validity of the lease, but that’s between them; it’s not appropriate for me to get involved in those discussions,” Hancox says. “We believe we have a right to move forward, and that’s why we applied for the license.”

At issue with the lease is whether the Lark Tavern building was destroyed by the fire last spring. According to a June 3 letter from DiNapoli’s attorney to Collins:

the Landlord hereby declares the Lease terminated as of May 6, 2010, the date of the fire that destroyed the building located at 453 Madison Avenue.

Collins’ 2004 lease stipulates that DiNapoli, as the landlord, has the option to terminate the lease

if the damage is so extensive as to amount practically to the total destruction of the leased property.

If the property is not destroyed, according to the lease terms, it is up to Collins decide whether to keep or cancel the lease. She renewed her original lease in 2009 for five years. The renewal includes two five-year options to continue the lease. If she decides to stay after a fire, the lease says,

the landlord shall repair the damage with reasonable dispatch.

Collins’ public insurance adjuster, Frank Rizzo of the Albany firm Capital Public Adjusters, and the Albany Fire Department dispute that the building was destroyed. In a reply letter to DiNapoli’s attorney, Linnan wrote:

the entire front portion of the premises, including the bar room area, is fully intact and has sustained only smoke and nominal water damage. … (Thus) it is not the landlord’s option to terminate the lease under the circumstances.

Collins offered to buy the building after the fire but was rebuffed by DiNapoli, Linnan says.

DiNapoli has been repairing the building in preparation for Flo’s Lark Tavern, Hancox says.

“It’s nothing personal,” says Hancox. “I have the utmost respect for … Collins. It’s just that I saw a great opportunity.”

DiNapoli did not return a call seeking comment.

Linnan says Collins is determined to fight to return to the Lark Tavern and does not want another operator in the building or using the name. He predicts the matter could end up in litigation.

“I expect to be calling Mr. DiNapoli’s attorney soon,” he says.