ALRC Meeting Update From Wed. Jan. 19th

Photo Credit: Flickr- Brian loni

At last week's meeting, the ALRC discussed the recommendations for the Alcohol License Density Ordinance (ALDO) given by the ALRC sub-committee. The recommendations included a few changes to the current ALDO.

Some of the changes being considered are:

• to double the 365 day window that a bar has to open with new tenants before the liquor license is surrendered, 
• to increase the percentage of allowed alcohol revenue, which now sits at 25%, for exceptional circumstances, (establishments that are not bars) and
• to add a clause allowing "entertainment venues" to be viewed separate from bars with a to-be-determined allowable percentage of revenue from alcohol.

While there was some discussion of these recommendations during last Wednesday's meeting, many ALRC members agreed more time is needed to discuss the particulars and therefore the focus of the conversation became making sure ALDO doesn’t sunset on March 5th, as it is scheduled to do now. It seems there is strong support  to keep ALDO alive, so the ALRC has recommended to the City Council that the sunset be pushed back to July 1, 2011. This will give both the ALRC and the City Council more time to discuss the ordinance and any changes they want to make to it. 

Some of the above-mentioned, changes to ALDO have the potential to weaken the ordinance. Here's the Coalition's position on some of the recommended changes from the ALRC sub-committee:

• The window of time for allowing a tavern to reopen within the ALDO area - Allowing the liquor license to stay with a building for twice as long as was originally put in place by ALDO does not limit the number of alcohol outlets, therefore it does not do what ALDO was set out to accomplish. We believe 365 days is a reasonable amount of time to refill a location's establishment with another bar or tavern. After one year there are still many business options for that location, just not a bar.
• Exceptional Circumstances - The same measure that was originally written into ALDO, and mentioned above, should be applied to those businesses seeking licenses as “exceptional circumstances” in the future. The level of alcohol revenue allowed should not be increased. Setting a higher acceptable level of alcohol revenue will prompt new businesses to present themselves as “extraordinary” situations but are in reality – bars with entertainment. ALDO’s goal is to gradually reduce the crime and violence downtown by reducing the number of bars and other alcohol outlets downtown.  The Coalition feels we should encourage business owners to bring in non alcohol-dependent entertainment, retail and cultural offerings to our community. 
• "Entertainment Venues" - The idea of giving business owners the option of opening up an entertainment venue is great, as long as it's not in addition to another bar. If an establishment applies for a license, it should either be to open a bar OR an entertainment venue, NOT both. Our fear is that the new "entertainment license" will otherwise become a back door to ALDO for bars!

Upcoming Meetings:

The City Council meets on February 1^st and will more than likely discuss the sunset of ALDO, and hopefully vote on extending the sunset to July 1^st. The ALRC meets again on February 16^th, in the City-County Building, room 201 @ 5:30pm. 

Upcoming Alcohol License Review Committee -Subcommittee meeting TOMORROW!

Tomorrow, a very important issue for the Madison downtown area will be discussed and the outcome of this discussion has the potential to be much further reaching than just the downtown neighborhood.

The Alcohol Licensing Review Committee (ALRC) - subcommittee will discuss and potentially make final recommendations on the Alcohol License Density Ordinance (ALDO) TOMORROW, Tuesday, January 11th in Madison. The meeting will be held in the City County Building, Rm 103A from 4 - 6 pm.

ALDO controls and limits the amount of alcohol licenses allowed in the designated downtown area. This is an ordinance the coalition feels very strongly should be made permanent. Studies have shown alcohol outlet density does correlate with rates in violence in certain areas and looking back in our city's history there is no denying Madison has seen, on several accounts, the negative effects an area with a high density of alcohol outlets can experience.

Furthermore, the over-saturation of alcohol outlets pushes businesses into price wars to lower the cost of alcohol in our town, which at times can drive overconsumption..

This important ordinance will sunset on March 5th if action is not taken to extend it. Tomorrow, the ALRC subcommittee will discuss this issue and may make a final recommendation which will then go before the ALRC on Jan. 19th and then the Common Council at their meeting on Feb. 1. The possibility exists that a recommendation will not come out of tomorrow's meeting, in which case the decisions will be pushed back. Look for an update after tomorrow's meeting to see where the discussion went, what decisions were made and what that means for more upcoming meetings.

This is an issue that not only effects those who live, work, learn and play downtown, but also Madison as a whole. The more of us that can attend the meeting the better.

See you there! And remember if you can't make it check back for updates on how the meeting went later this week!

Click here to learn more about the ALRC

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello supporters!

The Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse now has a blog! We will use this blog to keep you informed on what's going on in Dane County related to alcohol abuse such as upcoming city/county meetings, news stories, recent studies related to the effects of alcohol, etc. We'll share links to related sites or stories too!

This is also another way for us to communicate with one another. You can comment on these blogs, leaving your opinion, even suggesting topics for future blog posts! The more feedback we get from you, the more effective the blog will become.

Wisconsin has the worst drunken driving rate in the nation and our state's rates in alcohol misuse are among the highest in the country. Let's start making a change right here at home. We all want our communities to be a safe place to live, learn, play and work, so let's make Dane County a community where safe alcohol consumption takes place, not abuse.

We're very excited to roll out this blog and hope you choose to "follow" it, and take part in the discussion!

For more information on our coalition click here!

To join our coalition click here!

To be a "fan" of our facebook page click here!

And follow us on Twitter!