As noted in the last DMNA communication in late October, there’s an application for a liquor store in Madison Plaza for the spot that Dream Bikes vacated. The hearing before Madison’s Alcohol License Review Committee is this Wednesday, November 4, 5:30 pm, in Room 201 of the City County Building, Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. All interested parties are encouraged to attend and give opinions.
At its November 2 meeting, the Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association Council voted unanimously to oppose the liquor store and authorized DMNA President Bob Hague to speak at the public hearing. Most other members of the Council also plan to attend and speak against the liquor store.
Anyone attending the hearing can speak. The limit is 3 minutes. Sign up a few minutes before 5:30 - or whenever you arrive - at the table at the entrance to Room 201. This is Item 6 on the agenda but will probably be taken up at the beginning of the meeting because people will be registered against it. It is legislative file ID 24239
Want to speak but don’t have a way to get to the hearing? Anyone who needs a ride to the hearing should contact Mary Mullen, 298-0843, or mmullen@chorus.net. She’ll either pick you up or try to find someone else to do so.
If you cannot attend, you may call, write an e-mail, or sent a snail mail letter. Facts from the application and other sources are summarized below.
Here are some people you might want to communicate with giving your reasons for your opinion about having another liquor store in our neighborhood.
Alder Brian Solomon, <district10@cityofmadison.com> or <briansolomon@charter.net> You can also write to Brian at 2148 West Lawn Avenue, Madison, WI 53711. His phone number is 608-446-1362.
Madison’s Alcohol Coordinator Mark Woulf, mwoulf@cityofmadison.com
Eric Christianson who is the staff person for the Alcohol License Review Committee (ALRC). He will make your communication available to the whole committee.
<echristianson@cityofmadison.com>
Also given in the ALRC materials as the contact is tlund@cityofmadison.com
All the alders for the City of Madison since they will make the final decision: allalders@cityofmadison.com
by Mary Mullen
Facts About the Liquor Store Application (Attachment: “493601b3-e051-4f50-9199-b7e93292e407.pdf” which is the application itself)
If you click on the attachment with the many numbers and letters, you can see the actual application for the liquor store proposed for Madison Plaza where Dream Bikes used to be. To see everything about this application including some responses to it, go to http://legistar.cityofmadison.com/detailreport/matter.aspx?key=26733&mode=print <http://legistar.cityofmadison.com/detailreport/matter.aspx?key=26733&mode=print>
In a nutshell, the application provides the following information:
· application is for a Class A beer and liquor license
· location 4611 Verona Road, Madison Plaza mall
· the total space is 2,375 square feet
· will sell beer, wine, spirits, and packaged food
· open 7 days a week, 9 a.m to 9 p.m.
· bathrooms, storage in back, coolers & shelves in front of store, extra liquor stored in back
· manager’s experience is managing a family gas station the past 2 years in a mall that also has a liquor store
· applicant is Lakhvir Kaur, Madison Oil LLC
· applicants address is 1414 Starr Grass Dr., Madison, WI 53719,
· Applicant claims there are no special conditions desired by the neighborhood. (Editor’s note: The applicant has not contacted the Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association or held any informational meetings in the neighborhood. Therefore, she could not know if special conditions are desired.)
· Target market would be the local neighborhood.
· Plans to put a big sign on both the front and side of the store. (Editor’s note: This location is on the end of the mall, so signs would face both Verona Road and Britta Parkway.)
· Owner of building is FSGB, LLC, Madison Plaza, p. O. Box 724, Geneva, IL 60134, phone # 1-847-962-3414
· The floor plan with the application is unreadable.
by Mary Mullen
Current Responses to Application
Currently, response to this application has been negative. A neighborhood resident’s inquiry established that Alder Brian Solomon is opposed. The Madison police are opposed. The Dunn’s Marsh Neighborhood Association is opposed. Several neighborhood residents including Bob Hague, President of the DMNA, have already written to various authorities expressing their opposition. At least one Council member talked about starting a petition against the liquor store.
At its November 2 meeting the DMNA Council discussed its reasons for opposing a liquor store in Madison Plaza. These are some of the reasons for opposition.
· What a contrast to Dream Bikes, the previous occupant of the space, which was positive for the community in every way, employing young people from the neighborhood and encouraging bike riding.
· Our neighborhood is already at risk regarding health due to many factors. It is close to major highways with their noise and air pollution. The neighborhood has a lot of issues with alcohol and drug use, now. You can find a trail of alcohol bottles and beer cans all along the frontage roads and some other streets. Do we need more of that?
· We already have one liquor store in the neighborhood, Zimmer’s on the Beltline Frontage Road, 7/10 of a mile away from the proposed liquor store.
· Zimmer’s is the site of police calls on a pretty regular basis.
· Alcohol is available at many other locations within the neighborhood and nearby.
- One can buy beer at the Mobil station just a stone’s throw from the proposed store and also at the BP station right next to Einstein’s. Beer is also available at the Speedway gas station at Verona Road and Raymond Road.
- Several establishments just across Verona Road have alcohol on the menu. Feiler’s Restaurant next to Kentucky Fried Chicken has a bar and to the west right next to the bike path there’s Bennett’s Meadowood Country Club, also a bar.
- Up on Williamsburg Way is a full-fledged liquor store, Liquor Town, and just around the corner from it is Picasso’s Pizza that also has a bar.
by Mary Mullen
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