[media-credit name=’SUNDEEP MALLADI/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]For many University of Wisconsin students, bar time on a Saturday morning means time to stumble home after a long night of drinking and maybe devour some after-hours Ian's Pizza or Taco Bell along the way. However, for Madison Police officers — who have taken criticism from many students after several recent campus-area muggings and assaults — the scene at bar time turns into a real-life nightmare each weekend. MPD Central District Captain Mary Schauf said on a Friday or Saturday night in downtown Madison, the problem is not just handfuls of people exiting a single establishment at bar time. Rather, the problem is the hundreds of partiers — many of whom are overly intoxicated — leaving dozens of bars up and down State Street, University Avenue and along Capitol Square. "The issue we see from the police perspective is that 500 people spill out of those taverns," Schauf said. "The question it becomes is, can you put 500 people who have been drinking on the sidewalk in front of those places safely?" These safety concerns sparked the proposal of the Alcohol Density Plan last year, which would limit the number of liquor licenses granted to downtown establishments. Though the Alcohol Density Plan is still being debated by several downtown organizations, officials are currently drafting the plan into the form of an ordinance, which is likely to be introduced formally to the Madison City Council next week. After its formal proposal, the Density Plan will face debate in multiple city committees. Madison's Alcohol Policy Coordinator Joel Plant, a major force in the fight to enact the Alcohol Density Plan, said the proposal is aimed at trying to solve numerous "alcohol-related problems," such as violence at bar time. Plant said studies show a direct correlation between these problems and the density of alcohol outlets. "It's not about displacing [the problem]," Plant said. "Scientifically, spreading licenses out over a broader area is … a good thing in terms of alcohol-related violence." According to Plant, the Density Plan would specifically limit the number of Class B Combination licenses — the typical liquor license required for both bars and restaurants. Under the proposal, Plant said only restaurants where food accounts for more than 50 percent of total sales would be granted a liquor license. New bars, taverns and liquor stores would automatically be turned down for a Class B Combination license without consideration. Though the plan seems restrictive, Plant said plenty of establishments downtown — like State Street Brats, Hawk's, The Nitty Gritty and The Old Fashioned — sell more than 50 percent food and remain highly popular bars on nights and weekends. "Restaurants that have a significant bar business in the evening don't cause the (same) volume of problems as taverns only," Plant said. "Management is a critical piece of that." Downtown growth With the city of Madison and UW continually growing and expanding, the downtown area has also seen a jump in population and density in the past five years. In the four police sectors targeted by the Alcohol Density Plan — including State Street and the surrounding areas — Plant said there has been a 128 percent increase in the number of Class B Combination licenses granted over the past 10 years and a 29 percent increase in five years. But it is not just the heart of the isthmus that is rapidly expanding. Plant said the Alcohol License Review Committee is currently working on studies comparing the growth of downtown to the rest of the city. Though a complete analysis is unavailable, Plant said the committee did find a 5-percent increase in the past year of Class B Combination licenses citywide. Yet despite the increase in liquor licenses, Mary Carbine, executive director of Madison's Central Business Improvement District, said the mix of commercial buildings on State Street is very well balanced — about one-third retail, one-third service businesses and one-third food and drink. "One of the important things is figuring out — of the growth in the past five years — how much is restaurants, how much is bars and how much is other kinds of businesses," Carbine said. "That's something [the BID board] wants to look at." Schauf said the goal for downtown Madison is to have one liquor-licensed establishment for every 500 residents. According to Schauf, the four specified police sectors currently contain one licensed business for every 110 residents. Before the BID board gives its final recommendation on the Alcohol Density Plan — a crucial step in the progression of the proposal — Carbine said board members want to better understand the trends of downtown and its growth. An important question to ask, she added, is what kind of business mix Madison is aiming for in the downtown area. "Consideration can be informed by input from key stakeholder groups. We haven't heard from all the groups yet who we think are key corporations downtown," Carbine said. "We need to slow down the process to get more data to understand recent trends." How Madison compares An important part of the Alcohol Density Plan is studying how business works downtown. To that effect, UW officials will conduct a study this year comparing Madison to other well-known college towns around the country. According to Carbine, the study is being conducted by UW Extension and compares Madison's central business district to those of Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colo.; Ann Arbor, Mich. and Lincoln, Neb. "It's a market analysis study of downtown," Carbine said. "We selected cities based on population, median age, college enrollment and other statistics." Though Carbine said it was not selected as part of the study, Athens, Ga., is of comparable size to Madison and is also home to more than 33,000 students attending the University of Georgia. Athens Mayor Heidi Davison said several bar owners have recently suggested a plan similar to the Alcohol Density Plan to address alcohol related issues in Athens' popular downtown area. "We have had in the past some very minimal discussion about the possibility of limiting [liquor] licenses," Davison said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald. "But little to no interest has been expressed in the past when the topic was broached." Davison added Athens officials are concerned that limiting liquor licenses would eventually drive students to more off-campus house parties — a view shared by some Madison residents who oppose the Alcohol Density Plan. Davison said house parties make it even more difficult for police forces to keep everyone safe since they are much more spread out than the centralized business district. Though Schauf agreed it is much more difficult to find and regulate house parties, she said they are a large part of the university drinking culture and will happen regardless of how many bars are located downtown. "I don't think we're going to have a huge displacement back to house parties — that already exists," Schauf said. "It's kind of oversimplifying the issue to say if you cap the number of licenses, [students] are going to drink somewhere else." But if the Alcohol Density Plan is aimed at reducing the amount of drinking on and around campus as opposed to concentrating on safety, Davison said it might not be as successful as officials hope. "As for whether I think limiting the bars downtown would curb student drinking," Davison said, "I think the answer is no." Exploring possibilities Since its introduction, the Density Plan has spurred diverse reactions from business owners, students and downtown officials and has left some Madison residents searching for better answers. Carbine said so far, the response has been mixed and business owners would like to take a closer look at the Alcohol Density Plan to study its implications. "I can say that the retailers and property owners do agree that there are issues with over-consumption of alcohol and the resulting behavior that have a negative effect on downtown," Carbine said. "At the same time, they believe that this proposal should be considered very closely." Other downtown property owners and residents, she added, feel there are other measures the community can take to address the issue. "Density and controlling competition or however you want to look at it — I don't know if that's the right focus here," said Lee Pier, general manager of the Nitty Gritty. "I'm not against having a plan or helping control the problem, and I'm all for sitting at a table and saying there's an issue." Pier, who has been managing the Nitty Gritty for 10 years, said the Alcohol Density Plan punishes responsible bar owners and does not help get at the core of the problem. A better solution, Pier suggested, would be to train bar owners not to over-serve guests and to work together with the MPD to combat safety and violence issues. "I don't think it is fair to the downtown area," Pier said. "If there was some more training with the police department and the bar owners so that they could work together to fix this, I think you would get a lot accomplished without having to put a ban on the licenses." Madison is seeing an increasing number of high-rise apartments with more people wanting to live downtown, Pier added, and stopping the downtown area from growing will only detract entrepreneurs from developing establishments in the city. Pier added selling alcohol is a privilege, and anyone who is willing to follow the rules should be able to conduct business. "I wouldn't be in business if I didn't believe in the American way. If you have a good idea, … you should be able to do it," Pier said. "If I see the city's density plan, and I've still got this good idea in my head, I'm going to go make it happen someplace else." And Larry Lichte, who owns several bars and properties near the Capitol, said he has been working to require more training for tavern and restaurant owners in the city of Madison. According to Lichte, current state statute says municipalities cannot require more training for employees than what Wisconsin already provides. A better solution to the city's problem, he added, is continuing education. "It takes more than a two- or three-hour class on how to cut people off … to know how to deal with things," Lichte said. Living in Madison near the UW campus, Lichte said problems with alcohol will always exist. With downtown growing rapidly, Lichte added, people are going to want more places to go and changing the liquor license policy is not going to enhance the existing and developing neighborhoods. "If you move into an area with 40,000 students, there's going to be these types of problems or activity you wouldn't have if you lived on the west side or east side," Lichte said. "There needs to be some sort of balance. Downtown is going to grow — it's just a matter of compatibility."