Despite hopes for a significantly higher increase, the owner of Hawk’s Bar and Grill on State Street received permission to boost the bar’s capacity at a city alcohol policy committee meeting Tuesday.
The Alcohol License Review Committee voted unanimously to increase the bar’s capacity from the current 83 person limit to 99. Owner Hawk Sullivan expressed content with the decision, but said he initially requested a capacity of 160 at an earlier meeting, a number he said had been agreed upon through conversations with city officials and the Madison Fire Department.
Sullivan said he was no longer able to pursue the significantly higher capacity, because a previously overlooked state law requires bars requesting capacity increases over 100 to implement a fire-preventative sprinkler system, which can cost an establishment nearly $30,000.
“This is extremely frustrating, because it seems like a handful of departments truthfully didn’t know what they were talking about,” Sullivan said. “The mayor seemed quite upset about the situation because of the miscommunications and the fact that I would have to spend $30,000 to install a sprinkler system. It was a very, extremely frustrating process.”
Sullivan added he planned to pursue the original plan’s capacity of 160 people through an appeals process with the city. He said the original decision to set the capacity at 83 for the bar’s opening 10 years ago was an “inaccurate” volume, and since then the bar has often been fined by MFD for having more than 83 people in the establishment.
The bar is currently 500 square feet with room for 93 stools, so that if every stool was occupied, the bar would be over its current capacity, Sullivan pointed out.
“I’m usually over my capacity, but I’m never near what my capacity should be,” Sullivan said. “I understand how it may look, but in reality when you issued a capacity 10 years ago, it should have been issued at 160, the appropriate amount, and I can’t tell you why it wasn’t. I’m simply here to not have the fire inspectors give me grief.”
At an earlier meeting, ALRC member Pamela Bean expressed concern that a capacity increase would affect the bar’s sales composition, which currently resides at approximately 45 percent alcohol sale and 55 percent food sale.
Bean outlined several suggestions to address her concerns in a letter to the committee, which outlined possibilities such as extending the bar’s kitchen hours to midnight or later.
Sullivan contended the suggestions provided were not associated with his request for a higher capacity.
“These recommendations don’t have anything to do with my capacity,” Sullivan said. “Nothing. They don’t at all … You have to understand my frustration.”
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, expressed his support for the capacity increase and said the addition of 17 more people would not create a significant change to the bar’s atmosphere.
“We’re not talking about a large increase whatsoever,” Verveer said.
Despite Bean’s absence, ALRC approved Sullivan’s application to increase capacity and voted to refer Bean’s recommendations to the committee’s April meeting.
