City officials introduced an ordinance to change the liquor license revocation process at a meeting Wednesday after hearing a State Street establishment’s not guilty plea to complaints brought against it, along with other cases heard at recent meetings.
Members of the Alcohol License Review Committee heard a plea from T. Sushi, located at 251 State St., challenging complaints assistant city attorney Jennifer Zilavy brought against the downtown establishment for not using its liquor license for 15 consecutive days after the restaurant closed its doors December 31, 2012, while it underwent a managerial change.
Attorney Mary Beth Collins, representing T. Sushi’s owner Teddy Stevens, said the city attorney filed a complaint “for concerns rather than facts” regarding T. Sushi’s abrupt closure.
Under current law, if the city were to revoke T. Sushi’s license, any future tenant in the building would have to wait 12 months before applying for a new liquor license. The ALRC unanimously recommended the city Council adopt an ordinance at its April 16 meeting that would eliminate that stipulation.
According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, if the Council adopts the proposal, a new business at 332 W. Johnson St., which used to be Logan’s Madtown Bar, would not have to comply with the 12-month waiting period because Logan’s liquor license revocation is pending until June.
Additionally, Associated Students of Madison representative Rachel Lepak spoke with the ALRC about ways to bring more 18+ entertainment to the downtown area.
City Alcohol and Food Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf suggested the city increase 18+ entertainment by providing business owners incentives for offering music to patrons under 21.
“One of the reasons we struggle so much with 18+ entertainment downtown is we have a fairly lousy music scene to attract those types of businesses,” Woulf said.
The ALRC also unanimously voted to deny Soga owner Jing Xun Jiang’s request to remove a condition on his license prohibiting him from playing anything other than “background music” at his restaurant.
Jiang said he applied to have his license allowances altered because he wanted to offer karaoke to the customers at his restaurant, located at 508 State St.
The council denied his proposal, saying loud music playing late into the night would be disruptive to the neighborhood, after community members opposed the measure and pointed out the State Street area is residential as much as it is commercial.
