Bar patrons seeking a cold beer will be met with a shut door at local establishments Ram Head and Madison Avenue until July 30.
The two bars have been subject to a 30-day liquor license suspension following police complaints for violation of underage drinking laws, in addition to some violent disturbances at Madison Avenue.
Local bar Johnny O’s is also among those bars receiving a slap on the wrist, but it escaped the monthlong suspension.
The Madison Police Department sought non-renewal for the licenses of the bars before the city’s alcohol licensing authority, the Alcohol License Review Committee, in late May.
After a series of hearings, the ALRC decided to suspend Madison Avenue and Ram Head’s licenses for the 30-day period. The committee also decided to place various limiting conditions upon the licenses of Ram Head, Johnny O’s and Madison Avenue, including limiting bar capacity, giving police the power to further limit capacities and mandating the purchase of black lights and scanners for the detection of fake IDs.
“It’s a very significant financial burden to be closed for 30 days,” said Ram Head owner Richard Lyshek. “It’s four weekends, and the weekends are everything when it comes to business.”
Rick Petri, lawyer for Madison Avenue and Johnny O’s owner Jon Okonek, echoed Lyshek’s concern of financial hardship.
“Anytime you are shut down it affects the bottom line — you are not making any money and overhead costs continue,” Petri said, adding it could have been much worse if the suspension time fell during the school year in September or October.
These suspensions have ignited a debate regarding police enforcement of underage drinking in downtown bars and the process of liquor license non-renewal.
Lyshek said he believes the “hyper-aggressive” attitude of the police against underage drinkers is counter-productive to downtown safety.
“Does [the city] truly feel by kicking people out of the bars that they will make people drink less or not drink anymore?” Lyshek said. “I think what will happen is that people will drink just as much or more, but in an unsupervised location.”
Madison Police Department Capt. Mary Schauf said it is wrong to target the police’s actions against underage drinkers, since it is part of a wider, comprehensive strategy of tavern issues and violence.
“When it comes to alcohol issues in general, you can’t select out one part of the enforcement and say ‘this part of the enforcement has no value,'” Schauf said. “When we go into a bar to do a safety check in a tavern, we are looking for a lot of different things. One part of that is the whole thing with underage drinkers.”
Schauf added the issue is much bigger than just underagers and it would be selective to say that is the only action the police are undertaking.
“The calls for [police] service spike at midnight and bar time, so the alcohol component cannot be dismissed,” she said.
After July 30, Ram Head and Madison Avenue will reopen, with ALRC and the police keeping a close eye on their establishments to make sure they comply with the new restrictions on their licenses.
