City Council to Host Public Hearing on Ordinance to Alter Liquor Permits, Point System
The Laramie City Council will be having a public hearing on an original ordinance that will update Laramie Municipal Code concerning liquor permits and the point system for alcoholic beverage license violations.
Original Ordinance No. 1982 would amend the portion of the LMC regarding malt beverage permits for special events, catering permits for special events and the point system for alcoholic beverage license violations and suspension to make clarifications and address gaps in the point system.
Laramie Mayor Andrea Summerville said the ordinance would change the 24-hour malt beverage catering permit to require an application for each dispensing area and adds new violations to the alcoholic beverage point system – the system used by the city to keep liquor license holders accountable.
“For example, if sell to minors then they would risk having a violation on the point system,” Summerville said. “That can go towards suspension or even a revocation of their license.”
The ordinance would add two new types of violations to the point system, one of which would apply to a club retail liquor license and makes selling alcoholic liquor or malt beverages to non-members or accompanied guests a violation. The other violation would prohibit the consumption or carry of open container alcoholic liquor or malt beverages as prohibited by code.
Summerville said the updates contained in Original Ordinance No. 1982 address clarity issues in the municipal code.
“There’s just some clarity issues such as in the first piece for the 24-hour permit for malt beverage and catering permits- on the dispensing locations- it’s just been something that has been a little unclear for the city in terms of how we need to administer that permit,” Summerville said. “We have a city policy that the City Manager’s office has always used and we just want to make sure that that is how it is interpreted, so we are putting that into code.”
Summerville said the changes are being put forth at the request of the City Manager’s office.
“This is pretty much just a clean-up ordinance to the alcohol point system,” Summerville said.
The public hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. The city held the introduction and first reading of the ordinance on April 4.