Members of UW-Madison’s PACE Coalition discussed the city’s new Alcohol License Density Plan Tuesday as well as strategies for upcoming Halloween events.
The PACE organization is a campus/community coalition that strives to reduce underage and excessive drinking among college students. At the meeting, Alcohol Policy Coordinator Joel Plant talked about the goals of the Alcohol Density Plan.
“I think that what we’ve seen over the past years is the beginning of an understanding from a community-wide perspective —students, university administration, law enforcement—that everyone needs to play their role,” Plant said.
As part of the Density Plan, which goes into effect Friday, no new bars or liquor stores would be established downtown for at least the next three years. He explained the focus would not be on decommissioning existing bars, but rather on a “flattening of license numbers” in the downtown area.
Plant also outlined the city’s plans for Freakfest 2007, which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 27. This year, Frank Productions, a Madison concert promotion agency, was hired to coordinate concert events and funding. Pepsi-Cola was named the flagship sponsor this year, and their sponsorship dollars will be used to help offset costs of the entertainment.
PACE expressed a concern for Halloween safety, especially since the festivities fall on the same day as the Homecoming football game. However, Madison Police Department Sgt. Dave McCaw said the focus of most of their efforts is on alcohol consumption.
“What you can look for is more lighting on the outside areas of where there were entrances [to State Street] because we see a lot of problems there—alcohol consumption, lots of fights, and disturbance,” McCaw said.
In addition, State Street will be fenced off beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 until early the next morning. A glass-free zone will also be enforced at certain times that weekend.
PACE explored new potential strategies for reducing excessive drinking, including placing birth dates on all student IDs and more clearly communicating University alcohol policies.
The next PACE coalition meeting is later this semester.
