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[/media-credit]University of Wisconsin students won't be seeing any new bars downtown in the near future, as the Madison City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night that will prohibit new liquor licenses from being granted in the downtown area.
The Alcohol Beverage License Density Ordinance was passed with the support of 13 council members, while some members withheld their votes.
An approximately three-hourlong debate on the issue preceded the vote, with 10 testimonies from Madison residents supporting the ordinance, four in opposition and a heavy round of questioning from council members.
"This is not just a downtown issue, this is a quality of life issue," said Dale Burke, assistant chief of the University of Wisconsin Police Department. "As a community, we have a responsibility to create an environment that does not promote excessive drinking."
Several members of the Madison Police Department also spoke in support of the ordinance.
Despite overwhelming support from Madison police officers, two UW students spoke at the meeting in opposition of the ordinance. Sophomore Steven Lawrence said he wanted to provide a student perspective for council members.
"Students are going to drink, whether there are bars, whether there are not bars," Lawrence said. "I want you to look at the fact that this is going to promote more house parties because students are going to drink whether they are at a bar or a house party."
Suchita Shah, the vice chair of UW College Democrats and a member of Associated Students of Madison, also testified that a limit on the amount of bars downtown would only push students into house parties that are less safe.
"As a female, I don't think this plan will make me any safer," Shah said.
However, representatives from both the UWPD and the MPD disagreed with the students' claim.
"I don't think it's a one-or-another situation," Burke said.
Sergeant Dave McCaw of the MPD emphasized the ordinance will not reduce the current number of bars in the downtown area, but simply limit new bars in the future.
The proposal for the ordinance was originally brought to the attention of the City Council by the Alcohol License Review Committee, which is responsible for granting licenses to both restaurants and bars in Madison.
According to several members of ALRC, the committee currently finds itself granting many more licenses than they would like simply because they don't have the means to say no.
"This was the request of the committee because we realized we have a problem," said Judy Olsen, a former alder who served on the ALRC for several years. "It's common sense that [alcohol] is part of the reason we have so many problems in downtown."
City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4, also emphasized that ALRC, which directly deals with the issues of alcohol licenses, feels the ordinance is necessary.
"The ALRC has been discussing this notion for at least a couple of years," Verveer said. "Additionally and informally, the ALRC does unanimously recommend this motion before us tonight."
During the debate, Verveer strongly urged his fellow council members to approve the ordinance primarily because of his concern that the downtown area of Madison is dealing with unprecedented public safety issues.
"I think public safety, first and foremost, is what this is all about," Verveer said. "I think it is one strategy that, since we have at our disposal, we should utilize."
Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, however, said he was strongly opposed to limiting the amount of liquor licenses available in the downtown area for the oft-cited reason that the ordinance would push students into house parties.
"There is an incredibly high rate of sexual assaults at house parties as compared to licensed institutions," Judge said.
However, by the end of the night and after much discussion with his fellow council members, Judge found himself in the minority.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, one paragraph was removed on Sept. 21, 2007, from the original story.
