[media-credit name=’RAY PFEIFFER/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The city of Madison showed its continued efforts to control underage drinking at an Alcohol License Review Committee meeting Wednesday by reconsidering two newly implemented liquor licenses in downtown establishments.

Stephanie Rearick, vice chair of the ALRC, said she believes that by further revising downtown liquor licenses, the city will be better able to control the number of underage drinking incidents involved with the Madison alcohol scene. She said the committee plans to do this by making the licenses more concise, since different types of licenses allow for different alcohol-serving liberties.

"We wanted to make a more uniform requirement for a security plan," Rearick said, "because a performing arts license is much less thorough than the nightclub license."

She also said the nightclub license was passed so far in advance of the performing arts license that the committee was concerned establishments would confuse the age limits and other restrictions between the two.

"We were recommending that the nightclub license make it so restaurants that change to an entertainment venue are 21 and up, while still having the opportunity to apply for a performing arts license if they want to have underage persons at their establishment," Rearick said.

While under current revisions, the ALRC is waiting for Jennifer Zilavy, assistant city attorney, to tighten up the wording in order to further clarify the specificities of the licenses. After these changes, the newly revised licenses will be sent to the Common Council for approval before being referred back to the ALRC for the final decision.

Zilavy also said she hopes these revisions will deter certain restaurants which have recently been noted as hot spots for serving underage drinkers.

"I have filed complaints against both the license holders at Church Key and Bullfeathers," Zilavy said, "for several counts of allowing underage patrons on the premise and serving underage patrons."

She also noted the only establishments she chooses to prosecute are those in which the pictures and physical descriptions on the licenses carried by the underage drinkers are noticeably different than the person in question.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said in a number of these accusations, the liquor license-holding establishment is not at fault. In some cases, he said, underage drinkers give police a different fake ID — one that bears no physical resemblance — than the one they use to buy liquor, so they can keep their higher-quality fake ID.

With the advent of these two newly revised licenses on the horizon, Zilavy said she hopes to see a curb in the current trend to serve underage drinkers at local bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.

"We have not seen this many complaints filed in a long time," Verveer said. "And it should be no surprise to the people who are at the establishments that the police force is focusing its efforts on these locations due to the popularity … [with] underagers."