Alcohol License Density Plan

From Badger Herald Wiki

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.

This article needs additional citations for verification.

The Alcohol License Density Plan was passed and put into effect by the Madison City Council in a 13-6 vote September 18, 2007. The ordinance limits the number of licenses issued to new bars, taverns, and liquor stores on the UW-Madison campus.

Background

As an attempt to reduce binge drinking and change the culture of alcohol consumption on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, the ALDP was developed by Joel Plant, Alcohol Policy Coordinator to the city of Madison since 2005, until recently. The ordinance has increased the liquor prices and restricted the opening of new bars in taverns to those who made at least 50 percent of their sales from food. ALDP was created with the intention of decreasing alcohol related crimes on campus.

The plan has been taken into effect within a one-square-mile area on the UW campus including: Blair Street westward to Park Street, and West Washington Avenue northward to Lake Mendota.

Timeline of ALDP

First initiated by Joel Plant through various committee meetings and public hearings in 2006.

ALDP is passed by the Common Council Public Safety Review Board in a 3-2 vote on January 9, 2007.

The Madison Downtown Coordinating Committee votes 7-5 in favor of recommending the city's proposed ALDP to the Alcohol License Review Committee on April 18, 2007.

Officially approved and put into effect with the Madison City Council vote of 13-6 in favor on September 18, 2007.

Reception

The Alcohol License Density Plan received a mixture of support and opposition from UW-Madison students, bloggers, and other city officials after it was passed by the City Council in September.

Steve Britt of the Madison City Attorney's Office, supported ALDP, and said the plan would offer a fair and equal basis for the granting and denial of alcohol licenses.

The Capitol Neighborhoods website published an article in regard to alcohol problems in downtown and the proposed ALDP, suggesting three reasons why the plan is 'sorely' needed: for public safety, economic diversity, and for the wise use of taxpayer's dollars.

"This ordinance is no magic bullet, but what we are looking for is to try to stop the bleeding. Crimes that are being reported to us are overwhelmingly alcohol-related and we believe it's time to draw the line, " UW-Madison Assistant Police Chief Dale Burke told The Capital Times. Joel Plant similarly said that the plan is a long-term initiative and is not meant to be a quick fix; the plan will only work if the college campus and the rest of Madison is ready for change.

However, other city officials such as Alderman Eli Judge of District 8 strongly opposed ALDP. He believed the ordinance is not an effective way of preventing alcohol-related crime because students will drink regardless of the plan and that he worries about overcrowded bars forcing students to seek out other venues not on campus. He told The Daily Cardinal, "I don't see how it will do anything to affect the culture of drinking here in Wisconsin. It's ingrained into the people who come into this university." He also told The Badger Herald, "I think it will hurt students by pushing density into unsafe and unlicensed house parties."

Many students agreed with Judge's comments; Oliver Kiefer wrote on The Badger Herald website: "Some of the most dangerous places to drink are not bars; they are house parties with too many people crammed into crowded basements and on teetering balconies. The plan, if passed, will exacerbate this effect at the expense of student safety."

The Critical Badger blogger, also in opposition to the ALDP, writes: "The Madison solution to all alcohol problems? Restrict business and raise taxes. Whom would this really hurt? Students of lower economic status and the bars themselves. Why? Because this is Wisconsin and students are going to drink. Everywhere. You’re not going to change hundreds of years in culture, not to mention decades of UW student life, by taxing away social lives."