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City may allow beer carry-out

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by Beth Mueller

Thursday, April 26, 2007

A permanent repeal of an ordinance requiring wait staff to carry and serve all food, drinks and alcohol to patrons inside a sidewalk café will be voted on by City Council at its May 15 meeting.

The repeal passed unanimously through the Vending Oversight Committee Wednesday night.

According to City Council President Mike Verveer, the council had defeated a previous attempt to repeal the law last year.

"During 2006, staff were not required to carry out the drinks — the customers could carry it out on their own," Verveer said. "There were no problems — the police didn't observe any additional wild and crazy people taking drinks out of restaurants or bars and walking down the street with them."

While the debate preceding the vote at Wednesday's meeting was brief, some members of the committee referenced the sudden absence of opposition to this repeal.

"When this came up, there were just people who thought this was a horrible idea, and I think it's ironic that now everybody's so in favor of it," said Hawk Schenkel, owner of Hawk's Bar and Grill on State Street.

Verveer noted the easy passage of this repeal is in part due to changes in membership of City Council, including the retirement of former Ald. Cindy Thomas, District 20.

"Ald. Thomas has retired, and she was, perhaps still is, against it," Verveer said.

UW sophomore Joanne Huang said she was surprised at seeing this ordinance in practice recently.

"I've gotten a beer outside, and when they carried it for me I was like, 'What's going on?'" she said.

Huang also said she could understand the purpose behind the ordinance, and said she is "not really for appealing that law."

"It's up to the City Council to decide if the law is adequately serving that purpose," Huang said.

The Alcohol License Review Committee and the Public Safety Review Board have also approved the repeal of this part of the ordinance.

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Anonymous (April 26, 2007 @ 3:54am):

Noooo! No repeal! Make Union staff bring me my pitchers when I'm out on the Terrace, that'd be fuckin' sweet!

Anonymous (April 26, 2007 @ 1:02pm):

The union is exempt from all the regulations the city would impose anyway.

I'll raise a toast to no more Cindy Thomas!

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