A review of changes made to a city alcohol density ordinance to allow for increased flexibility in opening new taverns in Madison’s downtown, found while the changes may have given a boost to entertainment venues, they coincided with increased numbers of police calls in the area.
At the Wednesday meeting of the Alcohol License Review Committee, Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf presented an annual review of the Alcohol License Density Ordinance, which places strict guidelines on new taverns attempting to obtain a liquor license in the downtown area.
The annual review of the ordinance functions to determine if ALDO is fulfilling its purpose of decreasing the crime rate in Madison, Woulf said.
The most consistent marker ALRC looks for is calls to Madison Police Department, which are generated any time a police officer is dispatched, according to Woulf. ALRC tracks the alcohol and related crime between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. downtown, he said.
“Previously, we looked at battery, fight calls, disturbance calls and aggravated battery,” Woulf said. “This year, we looked back and looked at other sorts of calls for service that are most likely related.”
Woulf said the calls to police on State Street were much heavier in 2011 than in the past.
Other calls for services examined this year included alcohol conveyance, OWI, intoxicated persons, protective custody conveyance, local ordinance violation, domestic disturbance, sexual assaults and noise complaints, Woulf said. He added the calls were generally associated with house parties and bars.
ALDO, which was first implemented in 2007, aims to decrease alcohol-related incidents in the downtown area by reducing the number and capacity of alcohol licenses, among other initiatives. Since 2007, six taverns have closed as a result of ALDO, Woulf added.
He said two of the six were vacancies and the remaining businesses are still licensed, but not as taverns.
“Pretty much what it does is prevent any new tavern from opening downtown,” Woulf said of ALDO.
Last July, ALRC members made significant changes to the ordinance that would provide more flexibility for establishments with entertainment offerings in the downtown area.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said entertainment establishments in the downtown area have felt the negative effects of the ordinance the greatest and the changes to the ordinance have addressed this issue.
“From my perspective, the biggest impact ALDO has in a negative sense is the fact that it really, formally had a chilling effect on entertainment establishments,” Verveer said.
ALDO could cause concern because individuals between the ages of 18 and 21 are allowed in taverns if those taverns provide entertainment such as music, Verveer said.
The changes provided opportunities for establishments not focused solely on alcohol to obtain licenses, Woulf added.
Restaurants are not as restricted as taverns under ALDO and therefore are not subject to the same criteria for alcohol licenses, he said. Establishments are considered a tavern if more than 50 percent of total sales come from alcohol sales.
Woulf added restaurants, establishments with alcohol sales less than 50 percent, are expected to maintain their status of a restaurant in order to have lesser restrictions.
