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Madison eyes bar ban to fight binge boozing
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - This college town's unsuccessful war on binge drinking may get a new weapon: a ban on new bars.
A plan in front of the city council would declare a swath of downtown Madison near the Capitol and the University of Wisconsin campus off limits for new taverns and liquor stores. If a tavern closes, a new one couldn't move in under the plan meant to gradually reduce the 120 bars packed into an area of less than one square mile.
City officials say the limits would be one way to help them reduce binge drinking on a campus named Playboy's No. 1 party school in April. But others predict the plan would have little impact, and some property owners say it goes too far by restricting development.
Other cities have limited the number of bars in a given area but rarely have they done so after allowing them to move in, said city alcohol coordinator Joel Plant, who drafted the plan.
He said the large number of bars in the area - more than one-third of those in the city - has led to high rates of fights, property damage and sexual assault that make the area unsafe and drain police resources.
“The goal is to observe a reduction in the incidence of alcohol-related problems in the area and one way to do that is addressing the density of licenses,” he said. “This alone won't do it but it's one way and a novel way, especially in the Midwest, to try to figure out how to address these issues from a planning and long-term perspective.”
The measure would be the latest attempt to crack down on a culture of binge drinking in which many students hit the bars and attend house parties several times a week.
Other efforts, including a voluntary ban on drink specials enacted in 2002, have failed. But for the first time in years, Madison's notorious Halloween party ended without major violence or the use of pepper spray by police this year.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, two of four city council members who represent the area and UW administrators support the plan. Four committees are reviewing the plan, which could return for a vote of the council as early as March.
The plan would allow liquor licenses for new restaurants and grocery stores but not bars or liquor stores. A bar or liquor store could sell to new owners but only if it was in operation and in good standing with the city. Bars that close would have to find nonalcoholic businesses to move in, Plant said.
Larry Lichte, who owns a block filled with restaurants and bars near the Capitol, is starting a petition drive against the plan. He said the regulation would mean he would have trouble filling a vacant three-story nightclub or other properties that become vacant.
“Why should I or other owners be penalized because somebody else is doing wrong?” Lichte said. “Innocent landlords are being punished under this plan. And the city's not going after the problem people.”
City Council President Austin King, a 25-year-old who represents campus, said the plan would send interesting new bars to other parts of the city and drive students to house parties.
“It is a huge fear of mine that this modern prohibitionist bend that we're headed around will drive students out of bars and into less safe drinking environments,” he said. “We have a major problem with alcohol but it won't be solved through these hyper-regulatory mechanisms.”
Some bar owners favor the plan because it would make their licenses more valuable and reduce competition but others are worried it would become more difficult to sell their businesses.
Marsh Shapiro said the number of downtown bars has proliferated in the 38 years he has owned the Nitty Gritty, a popular restaurant and bar, and trying to scale them back now will be difficult.
“The horse has been out of the barn for a long time and now everybody wants to get the horse back in the barn and you're not going to be able to do it in any legitimate, honest way,” he said.
But some residents who live in the area, alarmed after a summer that had a high number of fights at bar closing time, say the plan doesn't go far enough because it has too many loopholes to allow new liquor licenses.
“The density of alcohol licenses has caused a criminal zone of opportunity in our neighborhood,” said Jamie McCarville, a 46-year-old involved in Capitol Neighborhoods Inc., a downtown neighborhood association. “We've seen an escalation of violence every month.”
A plan in front of the city council would declare a swath of downtown Madison near the Capitol and the University of Wisconsin campus off limits for new taverns and liquor stores. If a tavern closes, a new one couldn't move in under the plan meant to gradually reduce the 120 bars packed into an area of less than one square mile.
City officials say the limits would be one way to help them reduce binge drinking on a campus named Playboy's No. 1 party school in April. But others predict the plan would have little impact, and some property owners say it goes too far by restricting development.
Other cities have limited the number of bars in a given area but rarely have they done so after allowing them to move in, said city alcohol coordinator Joel Plant, who drafted the plan.
He said the large number of bars in the area - more than one-third of those in the city - has led to high rates of fights, property damage and sexual assault that make the area unsafe and drain police resources.
“The goal is to observe a reduction in the incidence of alcohol-related problems in the area and one way to do that is addressing the density of licenses,” he said. “This alone won't do it but it's one way and a novel way, especially in the Midwest, to try to figure out how to address these issues from a planning and long-term perspective.”
The measure would be the latest attempt to crack down on a culture of binge drinking in which many students hit the bars and attend house parties several times a week.
Other efforts, including a voluntary ban on drink specials enacted in 2002, have failed. But for the first time in years, Madison's notorious Halloween party ended without major violence or the use of pepper spray by police this year.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, two of four city council members who represent the area and UW administrators support the plan. Four committees are reviewing the plan, which could return for a vote of the council as early as March.
The plan would allow liquor licenses for new restaurants and grocery stores but not bars or liquor stores. A bar or liquor store could sell to new owners but only if it was in operation and in good standing with the city. Bars that close would have to find nonalcoholic businesses to move in, Plant said.
Larry Lichte, who owns a block filled with restaurants and bars near the Capitol, is starting a petition drive against the plan. He said the regulation would mean he would have trouble filling a vacant three-story nightclub or other properties that become vacant.
“Why should I or other owners be penalized because somebody else is doing wrong?” Lichte said. “Innocent landlords are being punished under this plan. And the city's not going after the problem people.”
City Council President Austin King, a 25-year-old who represents campus, said the plan would send interesting new bars to other parts of the city and drive students to house parties.
“It is a huge fear of mine that this modern prohibitionist bend that we're headed around will drive students out of bars and into less safe drinking environments,” he said. “We have a major problem with alcohol but it won't be solved through these hyper-regulatory mechanisms.”
Some bar owners favor the plan because it would make their licenses more valuable and reduce competition but others are worried it would become more difficult to sell their businesses.
Marsh Shapiro said the number of downtown bars has proliferated in the 38 years he has owned the Nitty Gritty, a popular restaurant and bar, and trying to scale them back now will be difficult.
“The horse has been out of the barn for a long time and now everybody wants to get the horse back in the barn and you're not going to be able to do it in any legitimate, honest way,” he said.
But some residents who live in the area, alarmed after a summer that had a high number of fights at bar closing time, say the plan doesn't go far enough because it has too many loopholes to allow new liquor licenses.
“The density of alcohol licenses has caused a criminal zone of opportunity in our neighborhood,” said Jamie McCarville, a 46-year-old involved in Capitol Neighborhoods Inc., a downtown neighborhood association. “We've seen an escalation of violence every month.”
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