City council members unanimously approved a new alcohol policy Tuesday that seeks to expand the vicinity for establishments to obtain alcohol licenses and provide clear definitions for different types of alcohol-serving businesses.
The new alcohol ordinance, effective July 1, will establish a smaller alcohol overlay district between State Street and University Avenue. Future additions of new taverns, brew pubs, liquor stores and accessory retail alcohol sales will be restricted within the new overlay district but existing establishments will be unaffected. By creating a smaller overlay district, businesses in the greater campus and downtown areas will have room to grow.
The current ordinance, passed in 2007, restricts the establishment of businesses that generate more than 50 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales in an overlay area that covers most of the campus and downtown areas.
Susan Schmitz, president of Downtown Madison, Inc., spoke at the meeting and expressed the importance of the approved amendments to the current alcohol license density ordinance.
“The [2007] ALDO did not work as we had hoped. It did not address the licensing issues that directly affect safety and the management of usual businesses,” Schmitz said. “We support ... the ordinance amendments as a more focused approach for the downtown of today and tomorrow.”
In addition, the new ordinance provides specific definitions for different establishments that can receive alcohol licenses.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said by creating clear definitions, establishments will follow the appropriate regulations associated with their titles.
“The amendments are trying to get at a very valid criticism of our existing alcohol license density ordinance,” Verveer said. “Some establishments are, frankly, pretending to be resturants and I don’t want that same situation to occur.”
Verveer said some establishments claim to function as nightclubs which qualify for conditional use within the overlay district when they are, in fact, taverns. Taverns are not allowed as permitted or conditional uses in the overlay district.
Multiple members of the public spoke in support of the ordinance, claiming it would provide “flexibility” and benefit businesses downtown.
Mary Carbine, executive director at Madison’s Central Business Improvement District, said a study measuring the growth in food and drink industries in Madison since 1998 shows very little improvement. Carbine said the new ALDO policy will advance the production of the industry with “more predictability.”
“I do think it’s important that the city and downtown stakeholders continue to do what we can in strategizing and thinking about how to ensure a long-term, healthy retail mix downtown,” Verveer said.
