A special meeting of Madison’s Alcohol License Review Committee stalled Monday after Madhatters bar’s legal representation failed to show, eliciting uncertainty regarding the bar’s future.
Representatives from Madhatters were supposed to come before the committee for deliberations regarding the possible suspension or revocation of the bar’s alcohol license.
These deliberations come as a result of the bar’s years worth of ordinance violations, primarily for admitting and serving minors and exceeding the legal occupancy limit, according to an Office of the City Attorney memorandum.
Members of the committee waited 15 minutes past the meeting’s official start-time for Madhatters’ legal representation to arrive, but a phone call to the bar’s representatives from Ald. Michael Verveer, District 4, revealed an error in communication.
“Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication about tonight’s meeting, so the future of Madhatters remains in doubt,” Verveer said.
The bar’s legal representatives did not appear at the meeting because the city failed to notify them of the meeting, Tenzin Tsenor, Madhatters’ manager, said.
Madhatters has been accused of five counts of exceeding lawful occupancy — in some cases reported to have been more than 70 percent above its maximum capacity —three counts of dealing to underage persons and 23 counts of permitting underage persons on the premises, according to a Madison Municipal Court memorandum.
Of the 31 total counts, 13 have been dismissed and Madhatters has pled “no contest” to the remaining 18, according to the City Attorney memorandum.
The 190 demerit points Madhatters has accumulated on its alcohol license as a result of these counts warrant consideration of license suspension or revocation, Ald. Paul Skidmore, District 9, said.
But the ordinance violations currently under review occurred in previous years, and Madhatters has maintained a clean record since changes in ownership and management occurred earlier this year, Verveer said.
“Much of the staff have turned over, and I don’t know of any new violations that Madhatters has had this year,” Verveer said. “I guess you could say the city is guilty of being slow to react to past police observations in the bar.”
The bar has “turned over a new leaf” in the past year and hired new staff who could be trusted not to break the rules, Tsenor said.
The bar also began cracking down on underage drinking this year and was commended by Madison Police Department for its efforts, Tsenor said.
“We’ve taken over 300 fake IDs and turned them over to the police,” Tsenor said. “[MPD] is happy with the improvements we’ve made.”
Madhatters’ meeting has been rescheduled for Dec. 7, Tsenor said.
Madhatters is eager to make amends for its previous misdoings at the December hearing, Tsenor said.
“We understand that we haven’t been the perfect bar in the past, but we’re making huge strides in changing that,” Tsenor said.
