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<br /> <br /> STAFF REPORT <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council <br /> <br />FROM: Heidi Heller, City Clerk <br /> <br />DATE: September 8, 2017 <br /> <br />RE: Additional Liquor License Discussion <br /> <br />At the August 23, 2017 Council meeting, TNT Billiard Products asked if the Council would be <br />willing to amend the liquor license code in order for them to have an intoxicating liquor license <br />rather than only a 3.2 malt liquor license. They only want to sell beer, but there is no liquor <br />license that only allows hard beers. Currently the City Code allows 5 on-sale intoxicating liquor <br />licenses, 2 on-sale restaurant intoxicating liquor licenses and 1 on-sale restaurant-event <br />intoxicating liquor license. Cities are limited on the number of intoxicating liquor licenses they <br />can issue, but can issue unlimited on-sale restaurant intoxicating liquor licenses. <br /> <br />Staff contacted the Minnesota Alcohol & Gambling Enforcement office to ask about options for <br />a City to create specific liquor license types. State staff reported that there is precedence set by <br />cities that have issued a full intoxicating liquor license to an applicant and added conditions to <br />the license, such as hours and what can be sold. They added that State Statute dictates the types <br />of liquor licenses that can be issued, so the City is limited to only those types. <br /> <br />The Council has long been cautious of allowing more intoxicating liquor licenses because of <br />not wanting another “bar” in the city, but has typically been supportive of adding restaurants. <br />In the 1990’s, there had been a few times that a Council member suggested the two extra <br />liquor licenses could be dropped since there had been no requests for them, but the idea was <br />never supported by more than one or two members, so the licenses still remain in effect. <br /> <br />Previous Amendments to the City Code for Intoxicating Liquor Licenses <br /> <br />• 1987 – the City requested and received approval from the Legislature to be allowed to <br />issue two additional intoxicating liquor licenses. The extra licenses were requested as <br />an economic development incentive to help attract a new upscale restaurant or hotel. <br /> <br />• October 1999 – On-sale restaurant intoxicating liquor Code was amended to <br />accommodate the new Porterhouse restaurant since it did not meet the investment <br />requirements. <br /> <br />• September 2014 – the Code was amended to reduce the number on-sale restaurant <br />intoxicating liquor licenses from two to one since at the time there was only one <br />restaurant with this license. <br /> <br />• October 2015 – the Code was amended to add a second on-sale restaurant intoxicating <br />liquor license for the new El Sombrero.