Local bars and restaurants could face less regulation under a current proposal considered at a Tuesday night meeting of the downtown Business Improvement District.

A BID subcommittee has been involved in amending the city’s Alcohol License Density Ordinance to create more opportunities for the downtown business area.

After successfully petitioning for the suspension of the 365-day rule, which bar and restaurant owners have lobbied to change, the subcommittee is now working toward expanding the parameters for exceptional circumstance licenses.

The city has drafted an amendment to ALDO defining exceptional circumstances as an establishment providing live musical entertainment, theatrical performances, comedy acts or movies.

Subcommittee member Brian Mullins said he has major concerns with the city’s ALDO amendment pertaining to exceptional circumstances.

“The whole idea of exceptional circumstances is to provide a vehicle for things we can’t identify right now,” Mullins said. “Trying to describe [the establishments] is the wrong approach.”

While the amendment also said an exceptional circumstance must have no more than 60 percent of its profits from alcohol, subcommittee member Larry Lichte said having an absolute limit is hurtful to the entertainment industry in Madison.

The city’s amendment also proposes the creation of an Alcohol License Review Committee technical advisory subcommittee to evaluate exceptional circumstances with alcohol revenues of greater than 60 percent, Mullins said.

BID Executive Director Mary Carbine said she likes the idea of an ALRC technical advisory body, but she would like to see language ensuring the consideration of businesses falling outside the exceptional circumstance definition.

Carbine said she was concerned with the proposed makeup of the technical advisory subcommittee. She suggested recommending a BID representative to the subcommittee.

The BID subcommittee will recommend the main BID board address the language of the city’s drafted amendment for ALDO.

Another aspect of the amendment the subcommittee discussed was the 365-day rule suspension.

The amendment said if a new license is granted to an establishment, the business would not be eligible for a higher-capacity license.

Mullins said if a bar rents out its space for an election campaign for a few months, that requires a different, lower-class license. The bar owner could then potentially be ineligible for a liquor license after the campaign is over.

The subcommittee moved to informally suggest an alder remove the language altogether. Mullins said he does not think City Council will have an issue with dropping the language because the revision to ALDO created unintended consequences.