City Could Begin Rejecting Liquor Licenses In Areas With ‘Concentrated Poverty’

Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

When rejecting a request for a new liquor license, the Milwaukee Common Council must be explicit about why. And be prepared to defend its choice in court.

In recent years, the council has relied on various factors, including the applicant’s criminal history, neighbor testimony and the number of nearby liquor licenses.

A proposal would add a new factor: the number of nearby residents living in poverty.

The resolution, if approved by the full council, would direct the License Division to develop legislation and metrics that could be relied upon.

The proposal is being led by Alderman Khalif Rainey and unanimously co-sponsored by the committee, which includes Milele A. Coggs, Mark Borkowski, Mark Chambers, Jr., Andrea Pratt and Jonathan Brostoff.

During the March 26 meeting, Coggs applauded Rainey’s work on the resolution, noting that the alderman has, for years, sought out ways to “combat the negative impacts” that mismanaged licenses have on the community.

“I know that this piece of legislation was a long time in preparation for you,” she said. “I know this is probably your last licensing meeting, and it’s so fitting that you’ve worked so hard on this piece of legislation that comes before us.”

The meeting was indeed one of the last for Rainey, as well as Borkowski; neither is running for re-election this spring.

The resolution is especially pertinent when it comes to liquor licenses, which are often highly concentrated in specific neighborhoods, Rainey said.

“As a former member of the licensing committee, often we saw applications, specifically for liquor licenses, in neighborhoods such as [the 53206 ZIP code], which just didn’t make sense.”

“As council members, we often have to weigh several factors when considering whether or not to support a new license application in our districts,” Rainey added in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. “There are instances where concentrated poverty or crime rates in an area could indicate that a certain type of business may not be a great fit, and this legislation would help bring us one step closer in being able to consider those factors when making a final decision on a new license establishment. I want to thank my colleagues for their support of this effort.”

The resolution specifically directs the License Division to identify factors and indicators of concentrated poverty and crime. Those factors will then be passed to the committee as recommendations to aid in the deliberation process.

License Division Manager James Cooney told the committee that he’s eager to begin working on the resolution.

“I really look forward to this challenge, to working with all of you and taking input from you, constituents and other partners,” he said, noting that his goal is to provide fair and applicable metrics for the committee to consider concentrated poverty in its decision of whether or not to approve a license.

The full council is set to vote on the matter at its next meeting on Tuesday, April 9.

The resolution directs a report back to the Licenses Committee in 60 days.

Related Legislation: File 231860