Osaka House received approval for an alcohol license after a contentious discussion at the Alcohol License Review Committee Wednesday.
The committee’s general concerns over granting and renewing alcohol licenses mainly focused on safety and welfare of the community. They took food and alcohol percentages, hours and entertainment into consideration.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the committee was hesitant to grant the alcohol license.
“Having an alcohol license is a privilege, it’s not a right. We receive feedback from neighborhood and police officers,” Council President Ald. Michael Verveer, District 4 said.
The ALRC granted Osaka House a conditional alcohol license at the meeting due to previous neighborhood noise complaints and illegal nightclub reports. The committee also had many concerns about granting licenses to restaurants in the state street area.
The committee has been cautious about Osaka’s application because of a “contentious” relationship with a previous owner, who was running an illegal night club, Verveer said.
“Alcohol licenses can lead to serious concerns affecting the community,” Verveer said.
The ALRC denied the new owners’ first request five months ago. The committee granted the license after more consideration. The committee placed some additional conditions on the newly granted license.
The committee will not allow entertainment in the restaurant in the future and it can only sell alcohol until 10 p.m. each day.
The owner of Osaka House, Jun Luo, said he has no interest in owning a nightclub.
“I have a ten year lease,” Luo said. “You have my word, in ten years I will not apply for any entertainment license.”
The State Street area has a lot of policing issues, particularly on weekend nights due to a high concentration of alcohol in that area, Verveer said.
Although Mayor Paul Soglin has previously said he would veto licenses granted to retail stores on State Street, the committee still plans to grant them.
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“Although the committee is respectful about the mayor’s concern about the State Street area liquor license, we generally use our own judgement and don’t follow his advice to not grant license just because it’s on the State Street,” Verveer said.
Verveer predicted that the mayor would not veto Osaka House’s alcohol license since Osaka House has been around for a long time.
The city council will have meeting on Oct. 4 to officially grant the license. Verveer said city council always accepts the alcohol license with committee recommendation.
