A town hall meeting to discuss and obtain broader input for a revision of the bill (to be revised in 90 days) is scheduled for Tuesday June 17 @ 6pm in the Cherokee Incubator (2715 Cherokee).  All residents, business owners, property owners, and interested parties are encouraged to attend

 

This bill is for the 20^th ward of St. Louis .  To see the boundaries of the 20th Ward, click on the following link:

 

http://southsidejou rnal.stltoday. com/articles/ 2008/05/28/ news/doc483dc4cd b0b61722496488. txt

 

Controversial liquor bill put on 90-day hold

By Jim Merkel Wednesday, May 28, 2008 3:47 PM CDT

 

Now that he’s made a roaring success of his South Side bar and restaurant, Steven Fitzpatrick Smith would like to do the same on section of Cherokee Street .

But Smith, owner of The Royale, 3132 S. Kingshighway Blvd. ,worries he never could do it under the liquor control regulations proposed for the area.

A number of others business owners on Cherokee contend that Alderman Craig Schmid’s plan for the three blocks of Cherokee from Iowa to Nebraska avenues would put undue burden on businesses in that area.

For about 90 minutes, many of the 40 people attending a meeting May 15 of the Cherokee Station Business Association forcefully told the 20th Ward alderman they didn’t like the plans.

After repeated demands, Schmid finally agreed to delay any action for 90 days to give people the chance to comment.

Schmid’s bill containing the plan extends the 20th Ward Liquor Control District for another three years. That district would cease to exist at the end of this month if it is not extended. In the district now, at least 50 percent of sales of any establishment with a license to sell liquor by the drink must be from food. The district effectively restricts liquor by the drink to restaurants.

Schmid proposes to allow establishments on Cherokee from Iowa to Nebraska to have a liquor-by-the- drink license if 35 percent of their sales are from food.

These businesses would have to follow strict requirements on reduced weekday hours, parking, security and other issues. Those with 50 percent food sales wouldn’t have to follow these special requirements.

Hours would be 6 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 6 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Establishments would have to get permission from owners of off-street parking lots to use them. A security guard would be mandated from 9 p.m. to closing for places with an capacity limit of more than 100 people.

High-resolution video cameras would be required outside the building, with an Internet feed available to the liquor authorities, the police, and others, including Schmid.

There would be no more than two such establishments within 350 feet.

The area is the part of the Cherokee Station Business District in Schmid’s ward. The rest of that district is in the 9th Ward of Alderman Kenneth Ortmann, which has no special requirements except the city’s general liquor laws.

Schmid said he was listening to business people who asked for an easing of the 50 percent requirement and to neighborhood leaders who had concerns about parking, security and other issues if 35 percent food sales were allowed.

But Smith, who wants to open in a building on the southwest corner of Iowa and Cherokee, said before Thursday’s meeting that the change would be a substantial burden on his ability to succeed.

"I think it’s absurd. I think it’s really over the top," he said. "It’s an impossibility for any business to open with such restrictions. "

Smith said even though his bar is known for its food, less than 35 percent of sales are generated by food.

He said he first wanted to open on Cherokee, but didn’t because of the restrictions there.

Since opening The Royale three years ago, he’s quadrupled the amount of business the former owner had. The bar and grill also has become known as a gathering place for local politicos.

Nonetheless, Smith said after Thursday’s meeting that he hopes something could be worked out that would enable him to open while satisfying concerns of residents.

"I’m glad that there’s now dialogue and communication after there was no communication at all, and I’m hopeful that progress can be made on Cherokee," Smith said.

In Thursday’s meeting, Schmid continually said he wasn’t married to the bill’s specific wording, but to the concerns of neighbors. He said he could not delay having the bill passed because of the need to have the 20th Ward Liquor Control District reinstated before it expires at the end of the month.

Many of the people felt as if they had been caught off guard by Schmid’s plan.

"I’m very disappointed in you as someone who represents us because we were not included," said Andrew Liebermann, a member of the board of the Cherkee Station Business Association. "This needs to be scrapped and started over. I don’t see a reason why this can’t be postponed for several months."

As tempers rose, Kelly Kross, interim director of the Dutchtown South Community Corporation, offered a solution: extend the present ordinance establishing the ward’s liquor control district for 90 days. During that time, there could be community meetings until a consensus is reached.

Schmid, at first, said he would consider it, but after repeated demands finally agreed to the extension. He said after the meeting he would amend his bill to allow the extension.

"You have a lot of existing entrepreneurs who want to open up shops on Cherokee and are very responsible, " Schmid said. However, some other operations might open that cause problems, he added.

"This gives us an opportunity to address both neighborhoods and communities and meet on common ground."

Schmid referred to the Gravois Park neighborhood, which is on the south side of Cherokee Street , and the Benton Park West neighborhood, which is on the north side.

Both Bill Byrd, president of the Benton Park West Neighborhood Association, and Rita Ford, president of the Gravois Park Neighborhood Association, worked with Schmid on the bill and said they agreed with him on it.

"The very first thing we want to do is protect the residents of the area," Byrd said before the meeting.

If the minimum amount of food sales is lowered without any controls, it will not be good for the neighborhood, Byrd said.

"If they’re good businessmen they will take into consideration the people of this neighborhood, " Ford said.

http://www.riverfro nttimes.com/ 2008-05-28/ news/sobering- thought-new- legislation- could-make- it-difficult- to-get-a- drink-on- cherokee- street/

Crossroads: Developer Will Liebermann says Alderman Craig Schmid's liquor policy stifles growth.

Sobering thought: New legislation could make it difficult to get a drink on Cherokee Street

By Chad Garrison published: May 28, 2008

Like many young entrepreneurs who've invested in Cherokee Street , Will Liebermann concedes that the neighborhood has yet to take off like other hot spots in the city. Still, the 33-year-old developer remains optimistic that change is around the corner.

In the past two years, Liebermann estimates he and other rehabbers have renovated 100,000 square feet of building space, bringing new residents and businesses to the mix of ethnic stores and restaurants that dot Cherokee Street .

"We've added a record store, and we're really excited about our new dry cleaner," boasts Liebermann. "Next, we'd like a florist. A neighborhood bar or two would also be great."

That last part of the equation, though, may take a while, thanks to Alderman Craig Schmid's new liquor-control proposal for the district. Since the mid-1990s the longtime south-city alderman has required that any new tavern opening in his 20th Ward earn at least 50 percent of its revenue through food sales.

On May 9 Schmid introduced a new bill to the Board of Aldermen that would reduce the food sales quota to 35 percent for bars along Cherokee Street . The legislation adds a litany of other conditions that Liebermann and other members of the Cherokee Station Business Association say make the new liquor ordinance more restrictive than the last. Those provisions include requirements that new bars provide a minimum of fifteen spaces of off-street parking, limit their operations to midnight on weekdays and hire outside security if their occupancy exceeds 100 people.

The bill also mandates that tavern owners install exterior video cameras to allow law enforcement authorities — along with Schmid — to monitor the exterior of the bars 24/7 via the Internet.

Jason Deem, past president of the business association, says the bill came as a complete surprise. "We'd heard anecdotally that the alderman was reviewing the ordinance with neighborhood groups. But you'd think he would come to the business association before presenting it to the Board of Aldermen. We're the ones most impacted by the legislation. "

On May 15 Deem invited Schmid to an emergency meeting of the association to discuss the ordinance. The gathering attracted some 40 disgruntled business owners and residents who quickly peppered the alderman with questions and complaints about his proposal. "To the degree that some people wish that I would have done things differently, I say, 'I'm sorry,'" Schmid told the crowd.

The two-hour meeting ended with Schmid agreeing to delay passage of the bill for 90 days, but he stopped short of promising any changes to the bill. Schmid notes that he's one of eleven aldermen who've imposed alcohol-control ordinances in their wards and maintains the legislation has gone a long way to clean up neighborhoods and keep tavern owners honest.

"We had an incident a few years ago where a drunk was kicked out of one bar and walked across the street to another and kept drinking," Schmid recalls. "Later he stumbled out of the tavern and stabbed a man to death. A few years later we had a group who tried to open a bar against the wishes of their neighbors. They were forging residents' signatures to get their liquor license."

Deem agrees that bar owners need to be accountable for their actions, but argues that Schmid's stance creates two very opposite jurisdictions along Cherokee Street — parts of which lie under the control of Ward 9 Alderman Ken Ortmann.

"My opinion is that there is no need for a liquor moratorium," posits Ortmann. "I've explained my position to Craig. We already have sufficient state and city laws that deal with alcohol sales. I don't see the need for further legislation. "

In August, south-city resident Mike Glodeck plans to open Foam, a small coffee shop and pub at the corner of Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue that will be the area's first new drinking establishment in recent memory. Glodeck says he made sure his building was in Ortmann's ward before he purchased the property last year.

"I think most everyone is aware of the moratorium and hopes it will change," comments Glodeck. "No one wants a pub occupying every storefront, but to have a handful up and down the street wouldn't be a bad thing."

On the south side of Cherokee Street — in Schmid's ward — saloon owner Steve Smith is hoping the alderman will soon ease his liquor policy. Smith, who owns the Royale Food & Spirits in the Tower Grove South neighborhood, purchased a building last fall at the corner of Cherokee and Iowa streets that he plans to renovate into a bar.

At the May 15 meeting Smith told Schmid that a 35 percent food quota would be difficult to meet. "We serve lunch and dinner at the Royale and brunch on Sunday," said Smith. "Our meals have even been featured on Food Network, but still our food receipts account for just 31 percent of our business."

Bar owners aren't the only ones fed up with Schmid's liquor law. Betty Halloran, owner of the Cherokee Street embroidery store Personalized Mementos, says that a few watering holes might make the street more secure. "You come down here after 7 p.m., and it's dead," says Halloran. "The more activity we have down here at night the safer I think it would be."

Schmid says he modeled his ordinance after similar laws in University City , which require businesses to sell 50 percent food in order to receive a liquor license. The suburb also has a separate provision of its liquor law that allows bars and restaurants to sell unlimited amounts of alcohol provided they exceed $275,000 in annual food sales.

Blueberry Hill owner Joe Edwards says he was contacted by Schmid last year to discuss how the U. City laws have affected his restaurant. "I can see both sides of the argument," says Edwards. "A lot of people blame the demise of Gaslight Square to lax liquor policies. People could open a place without much money. If the business did well, the owner usually ran a decent bar and obeyed the rules. If it didn't, they'd open the floodgates to anyone – minors and brawlers. The district went downhill pretty rapidly after that."

Edwards suggests a compromise might be for Schmid to alter his bill so that it places a minimum dollar amount on food sales instead of basing it on a percentage of a bar's total revenue.

In the meantime, developer Will Liebermann says Schmid's policy puts a stranglehold on growth on Cherokee Street .

"Ultimately it undermines the credibility of people trying to develop Cherokee Street ," says Liebermann. "I'll take would-be investors down the street and tell them, 'You can put a pub on this corner, but not this corner. But if you really want to open a bar on this corner, you still can. You just need to sell a lot of peanuts along with the drinks.'"

 

Board Bill 47

http://stlcin. missouri. org/Document/ aldermen/ PDF/BB0472. pdf

May 9, 2008

Page 1 of 6

Board Bill No. 47 Sponsored by Alderman Craig Schmid

1 BOARD BILL NO. 47 INTRODUCED BY ALDERMAN CRAIG SCHMID

2 An ordinance prohibiting the issuance of any package or drink liquor licenses for any

3 currently non-licensed premises within the boundaries of the Twentieth Ward Liquor

4 Control District, as established herein, for a period of three years from the effective date

5 hereof; containing an exception allowing, during the period, for the transfer of existing

6 licenses, under certain circumstances, and the issuance of a drink license to persons

7 operating a restaurant at a previously non-licensed premises, or operating a premises with

8 at least 35% food sales and complying with other requirements set forth herein and

9 having a commercial occupancy permit with certain enumerated conditions attached

10 thereto; and containing an emergency clause.

11 BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS AS FOLLOWS:

12 SECTION ONE. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.

13 The existence of alcoholic beverage establishments appears to contribute directly to

14 numerous peace, health, safety and general welfare problems including loitering, littering,

15 drug trafficking, prostitution, public drunkenness, defacement and damaging of

16 structures, pedestrian obstructions, as well as traffic circulation, parking and noise

17 problems on public streets and neighborhood lots. The existence of such problems creates

18 serious impacts on the health, safety and welfare of residents of single- and multiple19

family residences within the district, including fear for the safety of children, elderly

20 residents and of visitors to the district. The problems also contribute to the deterioration

21 of the neighborhood and concomitant devaluation of property and destruction of

22 community values and quality of life. The number of establishments selling alcoholic

23 beverages and the associated problems discourage more desirable and needed commercial

24 uses in the area. In order to preserve the residential character and the neighborhoodMay

9, 2008

Page 2 of 6

Board Bill No. 47 Sponsored by Alderman Craig Schmid

1 serving commercial uses of the area, there shall be liquor control requirements on the

2 issuance of new liquor licenses within the area beginning at the intersection of the

3 centerlines of S. Broadway and Interstate 55, and proceeding along the centerlines in a

4 generally clockwise direction south to Kosciusko St., north to Winnebago St., west to

5 Marine Ave., south to Chippewa St., west to Missouri Ave., south to Keokuk St., west to

6 S. Broadway, north on S. Broadway to Jefferson Ave., north to Chippewa St., west to

7 Ohio Ave., south to Keokuk St., west to California Ave., north to Chippewa St., west to

8 Oregon Ave., south to Osage St., east to California Ave., south to Gasconade St., west to

9 Pennsylvania Ave., south to Meramec St., west to Michigan Ave., north to Gasconade

10 St., west to Louisiana Ave., north to Osage St., west to S. Grand Blvd., north to Alberta

11 St., east to Arkansas Ave., north to Chippewa St., east to Tennessee Ave., north to

12 Potomac St., east to Louisiana Ave., north to Gravois Ave., east to Virginia Ave., south

13 to Utah St., east to Compton Ave., north to Gravois Ave., northeast to Juniata St., east to

14 Minnesota Ave., south to Utah St., east to Pennsylvania Ave., south to Cherokee St., east

15 to Nebraska Ave., north to Wyoming St., east to Oregon Ave., north to Juniata St., east to

16 California Ave., south to Wyoming St., east to Texas Ave., south to Utah St., west to

17 Ohio Ave., south to Cherokee St., west to Iowa Ave., south to Miami St., east to Ohio St.,

18 north to Potomac St., east to Indiana Ave., south to Miami St., east to S. Broadway,

19 northeast to Salena St., south to Miami St., east to Cleon St., northeast to President St.,

20 southeast to Second St. , northeast to Potomac St., northwest to S. Broadway St., northeast

21 to the point of beginning. Such area shall be known as the Twentieth Ward Liquor

22 Control Area.

May 9, 2008

Page 3 of 6

Board Bill No. 47 Sponsored by Alderman Craig Schmid

1 SECTION TWO. The Excise Commissioner is hereby prohibited, for a period of three

2 years, beginning as of the effective date of this Ordinance, from approving the issuance

3 of a package or drink liquor license for any premises, not licensed as of the effective date

4 hereof, which is located within the boundaries of the Twentieth Ward Liquor Control

5 District established in Section One of this ordinance.

6 SECTION THREE. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section Two of this Ordinance,

7 the Excise Commissioner shall have authority to:

8 (1) Approve transfer of an existing license to another premises within the petition circle

9 of the currently licensed premises, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (B) of section

10 14.06.330 of Ordinance 61289; and

11 (2) Issue a drink license for a premises, not licensed as of the effective date of this

12 Ordinance, which currently is or will be, upon opening, operated as a restaurant, as such

13 term is defined in section 14.01.390 of Ordinance 61289.

14 (3) Issue a drink license only with the following conditions applied and enforced in an

15 area with a Cherokee Street address from the west curbline of Iowa Avenue to the east

16 curbline of Nebraska Avenue

17 A. No package liquor and premises must be operated as a restaurant with gross

18 food sales constituting at least 35% of gross sales; and

19 B. Operator of the premises must have and maintain at all times written

20 permission to use a public commercial parking facilities within 350 feet of the premises:

21 with a minimum of at least 15 parking spaces (paved, striped, having a six foot good

22 quality, sturdy ornamental metal fence surrounding it and adequate lighting, and with

23 concrete wheel stops, all complying with City of St. Louis requirements) ; and if there is

May 9, 2008

Page 4 of 6

Board Bill No. 47 Sponsored by Alderman Craig Schmid

1 live entertainment or live performances, with a minimum of at least 30 parking spaces

2 (paved, striped, having a six foot good quality, sturdy ornamental metal fence

3 surrounding it and adequate lighting, and with concrete wheel stops, all complying with

4 City of St. Louis requirements) ; and having at a minimum at least 30 additional parking

5 spaces for every 1000 square feet of business space in excess of the first 1000 square feet

6 of business space; and

7 C. Hours of operation limited to weekdays on Sunday through Thursday from 6

8 a.m. to midnight; and on weekends from 6 a.m. on Friday to Saturday at 1:30 a.m. and

9 from 6 a.m. on Saturday to Sunday at 1:30 a.m.; and

10 D. Operator must hire and maintain a security guard, licensed by the State of

11 Missouri , patrolling the outside of the premises, including adjacent public areas, if the

12 establishment has an occupancy load limit of over 100 people, from 9 p.m. to closing

13 time; and

14 E. Outside video camera(s) must be operated and taping 24 hours per day/seven

15 days per week to view all areas from the establishment to the centerline of all adjacent

16 streets and alleys with the capability of viewing all activity, facial features, and license

17 plate numbers at all times of light or darkness; with tapes of all activity retained by the

18 operator of the establishment for a period of at least 14 days after the taping and available

19 to the Excise Commissioner, law enforcement, Alderman of the 20th Ward, and the City

20 of St. Louis ; and available for viewing by computer internet access in real time with a

21 password, provided to the Excise Commissioner, law enforcement, Alderman of the 20th

22 Ward, and the City of St. Louis ; and

May 9, 2008

Page 5 of 6

Board Bill No. 47 Sponsored by Alderman Craig Schmid

1 F. No more than two (2) establishments having a liquor license with gross food

2 sales less than 50% of gross sales within 350 feet of each other; and

3 G. No outside performances, sales, distribution, cooking, storage, equipment,

4 beer garden, or activities; and

5 H. Doors and windows closed except for entry and exit from street facing doors

6 and no music or noise audible outside of the establishment; and

7 I. No board-up or bars on windows or doors; and

8 J. Sidewalk tables for restaurant purposes only may only be permitted in

9 accordance with an extension of premises permit with an appropriate 4 foot high good

10 quality, sturdy, black ornamental metal fence separating the tables from the rest of the

11 minimum 4 foot wide public sidewalk; and

12 K. Operator must clean from the premises to the middle of all adjacent alleys and

13 streets on a daily basis, maintain a public trash can (approved by the City) in front of the

14 premises, empty the public trash can at least once per week and as needed, and maintain a

15 locked commercial dumpster that is emptied at least weekly and as needed; and

16 L. "No Loitering" must be enforced around the premises and "No Open

17 Containers" must be enforced around the premises; and

18 M. Premises must have a commercial occupancy permit issued by the City of St.

19 Louis with the conditions set forth in A though L hereinabove.

20 SECTION FOUR. EMERGENCY CLAUSE.

21 This being an ordinance for the preservation of public peace, health and safety, it is

22 hereby declared to be an emergency measure within the meaning of Sections 19 and 20 of

May 9, 2008

Page 6 of 6

Board Bill No. 47 Sponsored by Alderman Craig Schmid

1 Article IV of the Charter of the City of St. Louis and therefore this ordinance shall

2 become effective immediately upon its passage and approval by the Mayor.