The Alcohol Licensing and Review Committee passed an ordinance Monday requiring liquor stores to ask for two forms of identification for beer, wine and liquor delivery.
The proposed ordinance, which will be reviewed and voted on at tonight’s City Council meeting, also requires liquor stores to record the purchaser’s two forms and that the purchaser sign the receipt upon delivery. This recorded information would then be available to law enforcement.
Two new amendments were also added to the legislation, stipulating that liquor store owners must keep information on alcohol purchasers for two years and that purchasing liquor on credit accounts would remain legal.
ALRC Chair Tim Bruer said this ordinance will reform the selling practices of liquor stores and prevent sales to underage students.
“We really want to build change in industry behavior,” he said. “This is a great framework for responsibility. It is a rational approach to dealing with alcohol issues.”
Ald, Mike Verveer, District 4, said most liquor stores that deliver in the campus area already follow the rules required by the ordinance, but that the legislation is necessary to be certain that liquor stores are responsible.
“I think it is important to realize that most members of the industry are already doing this,” Verveer said. “But I cannot guarantee that every liquor store follows these rules.”
Verveer also said the ordinance will not adversely affect the ability of UW students to have liquor delivered.
“The average UW student will not feel a burden,” he said. “The luxury of heavy kegs being delivered to parties will still be maintained. This is just mandating minimum procedures.”
Verveer said the ordinance will also still allow fraternities, sororities and other campus organizations to continue to order liquor on credit accounts.
“Several students pay after the party is over,” he said. “This will allow stores to continue to extend credit to student organizations and to other groups in Madison.”
Susan Crowley, director of Prevention Services for UW Health, said she supports the ordinance because she believes it will help the university trace the culprits of dangerous underage drinking.
“The reason we’re supporting this is because it increases accountability if drinking gets out of hand,” she said. “We are concerned about overdrinking and the students who are being taken to detox. Many of those drinkers are unsupervised, and this would allow us to track how the liquor was delivered and help us talk to people about how it happened.”
Verveer said he is in favor of the legislation but is concerned that it may lead to more restrictions.
“I am relieved that this legislation did not go farther,” Verveer said. “I don’t want to see things like liquor stores being required to e-mail the address of every party they deliver liquor to.”
Verveer said he believes the legislation will only have negative impacts on liquor stores not already following guidelines similar to those stipulated in the ordinance, but that it may cause smaller problems.
“This may be hard on delivery guys who go to drop of a keg and find out that the person who signed for it isn’t home,” Verveer said.
Verveer said he thinks the legislation will pass at tonight’s city-council meeting.
“I expected it to be approved along with the amendments,” he said.
