Aldermen Advance St. Charles Liquor Commission Plan

A plan to establish a St. Charles Liquor Commission to advise the city on issues related to liquor licenses and potential penalties for code violations received the unanimous recommendation of aldermen on Monday night.

The City Council Government Operations Committee gave its recommendation for formal council approval with little discussion after a brief presentation by Police Chief Jim Lamkin, who summarized key provisions desired by council members who looked at the issue last month.

The commission would include the mayor, who by state law is the city’s liquor commissioners, two aldermen and two St. Charles residents.

Lamkin told the council he had discussed the issue with Steve Baginsky, the spokesman for the St. Charles Tavern Association, who expressed little concern about the creation of a commission, although Lamkin said he was curious who the members of the commission would be.

The chief also noted that the tavern owners group has concerns about council discussions related to limiting bar hours, but those concerns are not related to the commission proposal.

While the council has discussed limiting hours for some establishments, such restrictions have yet to be presented to the council in a formal ordinance proposal and likely would not be until a commission is formed.

One of the items of discussion among aldermen and the mayor has been that the  commission might evaluate liquor licenses each year to determine if any license holders should lose the privilege of staying open until 2 a.m.

While this has been discussed, there is no mechanism in the city code to allow that yet — the council would have to amend the code to allow something different than the citywide 2 a.m. closing time that is in effect now.

Some of the other provisions in the ordinance the aldermen endorsed Monday night include:

• The commission would serve as an advisory body and would hold hearings.

• It would meet as determined by the liquor commissioner.

• The commission’s duties would include reviewing applications and background investigations at the request of the liquor commissioner. The commission would submit its findings and recommendations to the liquor commissioner.

• The commission would conduct disciplinary hearings and submit findings and recommendations to the liquor commissioner.

Related:

• May 29, 2013: Plans for St. Charles Liquor Commission Are Taking Shape