HomeMy WebLinkAboutLiquor License (2)
City of Columbia
Heights
Memo
To:
Bob Streetar, Community Development Director
From:
Jeff Sargent, City Planner
Date:
Re:
Class “A” Liquor License Moratorium
PROPOSITION
Staff recommends the Council consider eliminating the Class “A” liquor license.
On October 9, 2006, the City Council adopted an Emergency Moratorium for the
future issuances of Class “A” liquor licenses, for a one-year period. The question
is whether the City should continue to offer the Class “A” liquor license as a
means to sell intoxicating alcohol. The Class “A” liquor license is a catalyst for
activity that produces problems for the City. For this reason, it should be
eliminated.
PROBLEM
Police Chief Johnson stated the Police Department has been called for service to
The Star Bar on a very frequent basis. He stated that this is a great strain on the
limited resources that the City has for police protection at this time of night. Since
the introduction of the Class “A” liquor license, the number of calls for police
service to The Star Bar is as follows:
Year Number of Calls
2003 28
2004 52
2005 72
2006 86
These calls related to a number of issues, but most dealt with disturbing the
peace, noise complaints, robbery, and medical and detoxification emergencies.
The trend appears that each year yields more calls to The Star Bar for these
issues. Police Chief Johnson stated that he feels this is directly related to The
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Star Bar’s issuance of a Class “A” liquor license.
The issuances of Class “A” liquor licenses create opportunities for these problems
to persist. Not only is there an increased demand on the police service, there are
also neighboring properties that are affected. In the case of The Star Bar, the City
has received numerous complaints from the Park View Villa housing development
to the east. The noise generated from live bands in The Star Bar had disrupted
residents of the Park View Villas on many occasions. The City has also received
complaints from the property management group responsible for the well being of
the municipal parking ramp across from The Star Bar. The complaints ranged
from people loitering on the property after the bar closes to property damage and
graffiti.
BACKGROUND
Businesses selling on-site intoxicating liquor have 5 different options for the type
of liquor license they may obtain in the City of Columbia Heights.
The first type of liquor license is the Class “A” license. This license is an open bar
license and allows the establishment to serve hard alcohol without the
requirement of selling food. The annual cost of this license is $8,000 plus a $200
Sunday Sales fee. Currently, The Star Bar and Buffalo Wild Wings have a Class
“A” license.
The second type of liquor license is the Class “B” license. This license allows
establishments to serve hard alcohol, as long as a minimum of 60% of the gross
income for the establishment is in food sales. The Class “B” license is used
primarily for the restaurants in Columbia Heights, and has an annual cost of
$6,500 plus a $200 Sunday Sales fee. Currently, La Casita has a Class “B”
license.
The third type of liquor license is the Class “C” license. This license allows
bowling alleys and hotels to serve hard alcohol, as long as a minimum of 60% of
the establishment’s total business is derived in something other than the sale of
hard liquor. The annual cost of a Class “C” license is $6,500 plus a $200 Sunday
Sales fee. Currently, Mady’s Bowling Lounge is the only establishment in the city
with a Class “C” license.
The fourth type of liquor license is the Class “D” license. This is a probationary
license for establishments that have not been in business long enough to have an
established food/liquor split ratio. The annual cost of a Class “D” license is $8,000
plus a $200 Sunday Sales fee. Currently, Sarna’s Classic Grill is the only
establishment in the city with a Class “D” license.
The fifth type of liquor license is the Class “E” license. This license is limited to
restaurants that do not contain an elevated counter, commonly known as a bar.
This license allows this type of restaurant to serve hard alcohol, as long as a
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minimum of 60% of the gross income for the establishment is in food sales. The
annual cost of a Class “E” license is $5,500 with a $200 Sunday Sales fee.
Currently, there are no establishments in the city that have a Class “E” license.
ANALYSIS
The current zoning code allows for a full service restaurant or nightclub in the GB,
General Business and the CBD, Central Business Districts. Prior to the
moratorium, these establishments had the opportunity to obtain the Class “A”
license, which would enable a nightclub to not serve food. The problem that
persists in this situation is that these types of establishments generate a high
number of police calls, creating a strain on the City’s enforcement services, as a
direct result from the patrons consuming alcohol on the premises.
Without the removal of the Class “A” liquor license, there would be no other
course of action that could be taken to insure that this problem would go away.
Subsequently, staff believes that the issuances of Class “A” liquor licenses create
opportunities for these problems to persist. The combination of the bar-type use
and the Class “A” liquor license generates an opportunity for its patrons to cause
the problems that the City’s police department has to respond to.
PLAN
The City has done a study relating the number of police calls generated by Buffalo
Wild Wings and La Casita. Both of these establishments are restaurant-type
uses, however Buffalo Wild Wings currently has a Class “A” liquor license and La
Casita has a Class “B” liquor license. The following indicate the number of police
calls to each of these establishments in 2006 as compared to The Star Bar:
Establishment Number of Police Calls
La Casita 23
Buffalo Wild Wings 33
The Star Bar 86
The Star Bar had 1-½ times more police calls generated to their site than La
Casita and Buffalo Wild Wings had combined. This is evidence that the
combination of a non-restaurant use with the Class “A” liquor license produces a
high number of police calls and puts a strain on the police department’s resources.
The Class “A” liquor license is an open bar license, whereas there is no
requirement for the establishment to sell food in order to obtain the license. Staff
surveyed 16 Metro-area cities to determine the different types of liquor licenses
that are issued and the minimum requirements each license has. Of the 16
surveyed cities, only 3 cities had an equivalent to Columbia Heights’ Class “A”
liquor license, namely Maplewood, New Hope and Plymouth.
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Liquor License Requirements for Metro Area Cities
City License Type % Food % Liquor Bar License
Blaine Restaurant 51% 49% No
Bloomington Restaurant 49% 51% No
Clubs 30% 70% No
Wine 80% 20% No
80%
Brooklyn Center Restaurant 20% No
50-79% 21-50% No
40-49% 51-60% No
Brooklyn Park Restaurant none none No
60%
Champlin Restaurant 40% No
Columbia Heights Restaurant 60% 40% Yes
Clubs none none Yes
Eagan Restaurant 50% 50% No
Fridley Restaurant 40% 60% No
70%
Golden Valley Restaurant 30% No
Maple Grove Restaurant 51% 49% No
Maplewood 60% Yes
Restaurant 40%
Restaurant 30-59% 41-70% Yes
Clubs none none Yes
New Hope Yes
Restaurant 50% 50%
Wine 60% 40% Yes
Plymouth Yes
Restaurant none none
Clubs none none Yes
Roseville Restaurant 50% 50% No
Restaurant 25% 75% No
St. Anthony Restaurant 50% 50% No
West St. Paul Restaurant 55% 45% No
Woodbury Restaurant 50% 50% No
The Class “B” license requires that restaurants have a minimum of 60% of total
sales devoted to food. Of the 16 cities surveyed, only 4 other cities had a 60% or
greater requirement for total food sales for restaurants, namely Brooklyn Center,
Champlin, Golden Valley, and Maplewood.
Of the 16 cities surveyed, Staff was able to obtain the real food to liquor
percentage ratios from 7 cities, namely Bloomington, Blaine, Brooklyn Center,
Fridley, New Hope, Roseville and Woodbury. Within these 7 cities, 82 restaurants
reported the actual percentage of food to liquor sold in each establishment. Of the
82 reporting restaurants, 79 reported a percentage of food sales in excess of 60%.
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Real Food to Liquor Ratios as Reported by Restaurants
City Establishment 2005-2006 2004-2005
AMF Southtown Lanes 36/64 32/68
Bloomington
(ratio 30/70)
Applebee's - Lyndale 84/16 81/19
Applebee's - Southtown 82/18 83/17
Bennigan's 46/54 46/54
Billabong Aussie Grill & Pub 54/46 57/43
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. 84/16 84/16
California Café Bar & Grille 76/24 74/26
Chevy's Fresh-Mex 72/28 72/28
Chili's Grill & Bar 84/16 85/15
Ciao Bella 66/34 65/35
Courtyard by Marriot 82/18 82/18
David Fong's 65/35 64/36
Denny's 92/8 91/9
Embassy Suites 84/16 82/18
(34th Ave.)
Embassy Suites Hotel 78/22 77/23
(American Blvd.)
Famous Dave's 91/9 90/10
Famous Dave's (MOA) 89/11
Fuddrucker's 96/4 96/4
Hilton Garden Inn 83/17 78/22
Hilton Mpls/St. Paul Airport 82/18 86/14
Holiday Inn I-35 Airport 76/24 76/24
Hooters 73/27 72/28
Hotel Sofitel 80/20 80/20
Joe Senser's Sports Grill & Bar 61/39 60/40
Kincaids 74/26 73/27
Kokomo Island Café 80/20
Major's Sports Café 42/58 45/55
Minneapolis Airport Marriot 83/17 82/18
Napa Valley Grille 70/30 70/30
Olive Garden #100 90/10 90/10
Outback Steakhouse 80/20 78/22
Park Plaza Hotel 90/10 New
Pippins (Holiday Inn Select) 84/16 82/18
Rainforest Café 91/9 92/8
Ramada Mall of America New 83/17
Red Lobster Rest. #249 89/11 88/12
Ruby Tuesday 87/13 85/15
Shantytown Grill 74/26 74/26
Sheraton Bloomington 86/14 85/15
Sportspage 79/21
Steak & Ale Restaurant 82/18 80/20
TGI Friday's (Killebrew) 70/30 90/10
TGI Friday's (Normandale) 70/30 73/27
Timber Lodge Steakhouse 87/13 86/14
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City Establishment 2005-2006 2004-2005
Tony Roma's 82/18 82/18
Tucci Benucch 86/14 86/14
Twin City Grill 83/17 84/16
Andy's Tap 83/17 83/17
Bella Cucina 80/20 81/19
Hyland Ski and Snowboard Area 98/2 99/1
Nordstroms Marketplace Café
99/1 99/1
Perkins Rest. & Bakery #1059 99/1 99/1
Surabhi Indian Cuisine 97/3 99/1
Tandoor Restaurant 94/6 94/6
Tiger Sushi
91/9 91/9
Zeke's Place
80/20
Applebee's 85.4/14.6
Blaine
Red Lobster 90/10
TGI Friday's 72/29
Brooklyn Center
Applebee's 82.3/17.7
Applebee's 82/17
Fridley
Applebee's 80/20
New Hope
Sunshine Factory
69/31
Applebee's 88.5/11.5
Roseville
Big Bowl 92.5/7.5
Buffalo Wild Wings 74/26
Chili's Grill & Bar 87.5/12.5
Don Pablo's 82/18
Fuddrucker's 98/2
Green Mill 86.5/13.5
Joe Senser's Sports Grill & Bar 63/37
Joe's Crab Shack 86/14
Old Chicago 62/38
Olive Garden 90/10
Outback Steakhouse 85/15
Red Lobster 90/10
Ruby Tuesday 88/12
Timber Lodge Steakhouse 87/13
TGI Friday's 80/20
Applebee's 84/16
Woodbury
Applebee's 85/15
Chammp's Americana 70/30
The types of establishments requiring the use of a Class “A” liquor license are
typically the bar or nightclub use. These types of uses generate problems that put
a strain on the City because of extra enforcement efforts needed to regulate them.
For this reason, Staff recommends abolishing the Class “A” liquor license.
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The Class “B” license is sufficient as a liquor license issued to restaurants
throughout the city. The current 60% food, 40% liquor requirement is consistent
with the real reported ratios from 95% of restaurants surveyed in 7 cities
throughout the metro area.
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