Drinking

 Well this ought to be good news for the beer and liquor sellers in town. People over age 35 reported they have increased consumption of alcohol by 14% during the epidemic. Of course, this probably doesn't help restaurants that much, since for a good part of the epidemic, people were not going out to restaurants, which derive a goodly part of their income from sales of alcohol

Downtown Alcohol

The city wants to remind you that people will be allowed to carry alcohol in plastic containers in the downtown area during the weekend before the eclipse (you did know an eclipse is coming, right?) No coolers or outside drinks allowed, all alcohol consumed must be purchased from licensed establishments, so I guess no purchasing a 24 pack of Keystone from ABC Liquor Mart and sitting in the town square drinking them, though I wonder if you could buy a 24 pack of Keystone and then pour the beer into plastic cups. After all, It was purchased from a licensed liquor seller and is in a plastic container.

Going to be interesting seeing enforcement of this> I imagine the concert area on Washington will be fenced off, making crowd control easier, but the rest of downtown is a pretty good sized area.

Super Bowl Weekend Crackdown

The C'dale Police cracked down on drunken drivers over the Super Bowl weekend but doesn't seem they saw any great increase in alcohol related infractions. There was one DUI and i citation for illegal transportation of alcohol. There were other citations but none alcohol related so not sure if the additional arrests were worth the extra effort. certainly did not see the amount of alcohol related violations the city saw during Polar Bear weekend.

Food and Beverage Tax Forum

Quite a few restaurant and package liquor owners showed up for the Chamber of Commerce's meeting yesterday to discuss the new tax on prepared food and alcohol sales in Carbondale. Money raised by the tax will go to fund police and fire department pensions as well as downtown revitalization projects.

Most of those in attendance agreed with Mayor Henry, after an explanation, that the city needed more money to pay those costs, though a few advocated looking for the always popular "waste" in city expenses. Two major concerns were advanced by attendees:

1) Carbondale would have the highest tax on food and alcohol in the state, and possibly in the nation.
2) The tax is unfair, in that it targets a specific class of businesses, rather than spreading the cost out citywide, as an increase in the overall sales tax would do.

Mayor Henry said an overall increase had been considered but shelved due to complaints by sellers of higher ticket items such as furniture and cars, as increases in the sales tax on those items would raise the price significantly more than would the increase in tax on a dinner. However, he aid the council would go back and take another look at a sales tax as well as other options for the food and beverage tax, such as a graduated introduction.

Several restaurant owners, as well as the Chamber, said they had received a number of messages and complaints about the tax, with customers threatening to take their business to lower taxed restaurants in Carterville, Marion and Murphysboro. The extra time this would consume however, makes this pretty unlikely. Carbondale's population doubles during the day and those people who come to town to work are not going to take the time to drive to another city to save the tax. 

Alcohol at Sidewalk Cafes

Ah, here's more info on the ordinance under discussion at city council tonight. Currently it is not legal to consume alcoholic drinks at sidewalk tables in the city, though consumption is fine inside. I would assume that, currently, consuming drinks at the tables violates the city ordinances on open consumption of spirits, though why beer gardens are OK is a bit befuddling. Still a change in the ordinance is probably a good move.

Lance Jack Arrested

Police arrested councilman Lance Jack early last Friday morning on charges of DUI, resisting arrest and driving without insurance. Oh, also improper lane usage and illegal transportation of alcohol.

Charges of improper lane usage in 2008 and DUI and possession of cannabis in 2009 were both dismissed, though he was convicted of improper lane usage and driving with an expired license in conjunction with the 2009 arrest. Will certainly be interesting to see if he gets these charges dismissed as well. He did get re-elected after the 2009 arrest but the resisting a peace officer is a more serious charge.

Arena Liquor License

Received an email from a reader of the blog regarding the liquor license for the Arena and Stadium, since, according to this, the liquor license for the Arena, Stadium,  Charlotte West Stadium and Jones Stadium are all held by Chartwells, which no longer has a contract with the university.  This means no Chartwells, no liquor sales in any university stadium.

I emailed city manger Kevin Baity to find out the current status of the affected liquor sales.  Baity informed me that there is a request on the next city council agenda to amend the city code to allow city licensed caterers to sell liquor at the four locations  for which Chartwells previously had the license.  If the revision passes, anyone with a license to sell liquor at events elsewhere on campus (Shryock Auditorium, Leser Law Building, among others) could contract with the university to sell beer and alcohol at the stadiums.

Liquor License Requests

Some interesting liquor license change requests coming up at the LCC meeting on August 27.  Italian village requests a change from a class A1 (beer and wine only), to a Class A2 (allows all liquors).

Curbside (Bistro 51?), located in the old Icebox Bar and Grill location, is requesting a class A2 license.  An A2 license has no cap in terms of numbers allowed but required the location to generate 51% of of its revenues from food sales.  A number of "restaurants" in the past have attempted to skirt the law by getting an A2 license then quickly not meet the 51% requirement.  A business with an A2 or an A1 license is subject to auditing and can be shut down if it is found to generate more that 51% of its sales in liquor.

Update:  The Bistro 51 logo, which covered the Icebox logo, is now covered itself by the Curbside logo.

Finally, and this one really surprised me, long-time downtown stalwart New Kahala Fast Foods is requesting an A1 license.  A Bud Light with your Cashew Chicken?

Liquor Sales Hearing

It appears we will have a public hearing at the LAB Meeting August 1 regarding sales of alcoholic liquors at convenience and grocery stores.  I guess this is the next step after allowing them to sell beer and wine last year.:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Before the Liquor Advisory Board Of the City of Carbondale, Illinois Notice is hereby given to the public that on August 1, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in Carbondale City Hall, 200 South Illinois Avenue, Carbondale, Illinois, a public hearing will be held to take comments from the public regarding sales of all alcoholic liquors at convenience stores and grocery stores. Any person interested may attend the public hearing and be heard in regard thereto. Persons unable to attend the public hearing may submit written comments to the City Manager's Office by no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, 2013. KEVIN BAITY CITY MANAGER CITY OF CARBONDALE 20502730; Jul 27, 30

New Alcohol Tax?

Councilwoman Jane Adams has proposed a 2% tax on packaged beer and spirits, the proceeds of which would go to fund the construction and maintenance of outdoor recreation facilities within the city.

I don't drink alcohol so the tax is a moot point with me. Still, I am rather leary of adding on another tax to fund outdoor spaces until we see some sort of progress with the portion of the Saluki Way tax designated for green spaces and bike paths within the city. As of the last Sustainability Commission meeting, none of the money generated by the tax has gone for any of these projects.  I would be much happier if a specific project were announced, then taxes proposed to pay for it. Asking for the tax first, then proposing projects to spend it on is  putting the proverbial cart before the proverbial horse.

More Booze for You

Overlooked in the discussion about the neighborhood business districts was this vote on allowing microbreweries and distilleries to set up shop within the city limits.  Council also voted to allow a tasting booth at the Murdale Farmers Market, but it must be kept separate from the rest of the market so that impressionable children and dogs are exposed less to Ol' Devil Alcohol with no sales allowed and only one company allowed to set up a tasting booth per week.  Anyone know how the Farmer's Market plans to allocate the weekly tastings?

Liquor Code Changes?

Caught this in the Southern today. The change to the liquor laws allowing wine tastings at farmer's markets and microbreweries and distilleries to sell their product without having to have a certain percentage of food sales makes sense.  Any wine tastings at farmer's markets would have to abide by the same regulations as tastings conducted on the winery's own premises so I assume they would check IDs before allowing samples.

Eliminating the food requirement from microbreweries and distilleries also makes sense as the current requirement for a class A license requires them to shift focus to food preparation, not their area of specialization.  None of the other classes of liquor licenses fit microbrewers and distillers, which sell both by the drink and by the package.  Rewiting the Class H license to include them makes sense and would allow the city to encourage the development of a fast growing segment of the industry.   We already have a number of top drawer wineries in the area, let's encourage some high quality microbrewers as well.

Polar Bear

The 12th annual Polar Bear event takes place tomorrow at Pinch Penny Pub and the Copper Dragon.  Meanwhile, a number of "Puck Finch" events take place over the weekend at other nearby bars.

Carbondale police have announced increased patrols focusing on alcohol this weekend (likely parking across the street from Pinch Penny Pub as they did last year and Mayor Fritzler  and Chancellor Cheng have both sent out letters about the events (here and here).  Last year, Polar Bear attracted more notice than normal after a drunken 19 year old (it was never clear if he had attended one of the events) attempted to jump on a passing train and slipped off, losing a leg.

Liquor Violations

Even with Polar Bear, Pinch Penny Pub managed to come in behind Stix in the number of liquor violations reported by C'dale police for January 1 through March 31. Pinch Penny only had 41, while Stix racked up 58.  Cali's was the only other liquor establishment to break into double digits, with 21. Every other place serving or selling alcohol in C'dale reported fewer than 10 violations, with most reporting 0.

Yet More on Polar Bear

Not wanting to beat a dead bear, so to speak, but had the opportunity to talk to a staffer that was on duty during Polar Bear.  According to them, approximately 6000 people attended the event, up from 2011.  However consumption of Corona did not hit the estimated 2000 cases quaffed last year, mainly because the bar also offered a drink special on Bud Light. They saw only one fight break out during the time they were on duty and staff and security quickly quelled it.

I haven't found any figures yet regarding the number of arrests for underage drinking and open container violations, but from what I have heard, the event ran smoothly, at least as smoothly as an event focused on consuming large quantities of alcohol can.  The Carbondale crime map shows a pair of assaults in the area an hour or so after midnight the day of the event and the residents of the nearby Creekside Apartments acted pretty stupidly but overall, if the downtown bars brought forward a proposal to control patrons in their bars as they did with Polar Bear, worked with the city to help control people after the bars closed and started discussions with city council and the Liquor Advisory Board now, I think they could get the Halloween bar closures reversed.

More on Polar Bear

WSIL has a video and accompanying story on the Polar Bear event, while Eric Ginnard has photos of attendees.  No indication of any major incidents save for the one train accident.  In 2011, police wrote over 100 citations and one source says Pinch Penny went through over 2000 cases of Corona during the event.