Liquor Advisory Board Meeting

Sat in on most of tonight's LAB meeting.  Saw councilpeople Lee Fronabarger and Jane Adams, as well as Mayor Joel Fritzler, sitting in the back row, along with contingents from both liquor and grocery stores, as well as one from Huck's.  After quickly voting to retain chair Mark Robinson and vice-chair John Benshoff for another year, the Board moved onto the issue which had attracted most people, a discussion of proposed changes in the ordinance governing who can have a liquor license.

The current ordinance caps class C liquor licenses at 8, does not allow sales south of Pleasant Hill Road, does not allow liquor sales within 250' of gas sales locations, requires a separate entrance and wall for grocery and drug stores, restricts hours of entry and admission to the same as bars, must be 18 years old to work there and 50% of employees must be TIP trained and stores must pay an annual license fee of $2250.

Two competing ordinances were discussed.  The "comprehensive ordinance" proposed by Mayor Fritzler would eliminate the license caps as well as the gas, entrance and wall restrictions and allow sales city wide.  Age limits would remain the same as under the current ordinance though some age limits would differ for class B licenses.  TIP training and license fees would remain as they are now.

The "grocery store ordinance" proposed by Don Monty, would create a new C-2 license only available to grocery stores.  It would also allow sales city wide as well as eliminate the caps as well as the requirement to have a separate entrance and wall.  In addition, it would reduce the gas sales restriction to 200' and only allow the sale of beer (no kegs) and wine.  Liquor sales would end at 111 p.m. (no indication when they would start for 24 hour stores).  There are no restrictions on ages that can enter the store and employees under age 18 can't stock liquor on the shelves.  Only 50% of those who deal with liquor would have to get TIPs training (employees who don't deal with it would not have to get the training, no would they be counted in figuring the percentage) and a C-2 license would only cost $1125, the rationale for this being that the C-2 license holders forgo the opportunity to sell hard liquor so should not have to pay as much for their license.

Francis Murphy from the Neighborhood Food  Co-op spoke in favor of adopting one of the revised ordinances, as did representatives from Kroger, Wal-Mart and Hucks, though the LAB made a point of noting that the proposed ordinances, as written, would only apply to grocery stores, not to convenience stores.  The Kroger representative indicated that they were OK with either proposed ordinance, save for the 11 p.m. restriction in the grocery store ordinance.  There was also a question brought up regarding the city's definition of a grocery store, which a couple of LAB members thought needed "tightened".

The currently licensed liquor stores were, as expected, not in favor of either proposed ordinance. Local resident Pat Kelly argued that, if caps on liquor licenses were removed, the city should, in fairness, look at removing other restrictions on business it has imposed.  Other concerns raised were the increase in density of places to buy liquor and the half price liquor license offered to large stores like Wal-Mart and Kroger.

Some proponents of changes in the ordinance, including Trace Brown, who is building the new Shell convenience store at the intersection of Hwy 13 and Reed Station Road, thought the meeting started at 7 p.m. and came in about 6:45 as the meeting wound down.  Brown spoke in favor of the change, though he made a rather nonsensical argument that if convenience stores could not sell beer and wine, then liquor stores should not be able to sell convenience products such as chips and cigarettes.

The board then chose to vote on the grocery store ordinance.  During the vote, board chairman Mark Robinson,emphasized several times that the vote was advisory, not binding on any future decision by the City Council and that, as written, would not include convenience stores.  After a request to City Manager Allen Gill to further examine the city's definition of a grocery store, the board voted 5 to 1 to approve and send on the grocery store ordinance to the liquor control commission and city council.  I had to leave at that point so am not sure if they voted on the comprehensive ordinance as well, though from the conversation as I was leaving, I doubt it.