3 months ago
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Tourist Area Liquor Licenses
Two Chez has been trying to get a liquor license from the city for a couple of years. Heidel House, which could operate on a non-conforming liquor license fights them and the city in this regard. The city backs down from Heidel House. I keep wondering how many local people are even employed there at all. Other than the taxes Heidel House pays the employees can barely give directions to anything around here becasue they aren't from here nor are they encouraged to promote the area, just Heidel House. Two Chez has even agreed to put in writing that they would return any liquor license to Heidel House if there was a problem. Heidel House still declines and the city goes along. What would happen if the city did give another establishment Heidel House's "regular" license. Would they move out of town?
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- Chief Highknocker
- You aren't local until you have at least three generations in the cemetery.
15 comments:
There are State regulations in place governing the issue of Liquor licenses. Everyone knows this. To grant a new License outside of the existing boundaries sets a precedent for similar actions in the future.
The City isn’t in a position to “lend” a License from one business to another, that isn’t how it works.
If the Heidel House sees a potential loss of revenue resulting from the City arbitrarily issuing a License to a business then it is well within its rights to oppose this.
As people with a vested interest in the area we should also oppose this. If there were insufficient capacity to cater for people consuming liquor in the City then there might be a case for issuing a new license, however, it seems to me that there is ample capacity. At least 8 places within a cocks stride in a town of 1100.
Remember, nothing has been taken away. When the owners of Two Chez opened their business it was understood that only a beer/wine license would be issued.
But it seems the liquor licenses were issued incorrectly years back, which has now effected Two Chez, Marina Grill and any other future restaurant.
we don't need more access to liquor in this town we need less
Why should we have less access?? It is not the fault of restaurants who sell liquor if people consume alcohol. The issues are not related.
I have enjoyed this site in the past but have to say Chief Highknocker is way off base on this one. The Oshkosh Northwestern just printed an insert titled Images Of Green Lake. In this publication it showed how the Heidel House Resort was the number one tax-payer in the county by more than a two to one margin. Why in the world with the budget issues going on would the town even consider this action? In addition, I have talked to guests from the Heidel House all the time at Tuscumbia and at the Gooseblind. The resort does bring in revenue to other businesses in town all the time. No, my family nor I work at the Heidel House. This is just common sense for the community.
The previous comment posted is correct, Two Chez was very aware when they opened there was no license available and should not be looking at trying to obtain a license at someone elses expense.
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Rodrigo,
Nós realmente não gostamos dos spammers que vendem t-shirts, encontramos por favor um outro blog.
Obrigado
DB
I don't understand this. Why does Heidel House have a say in other businesses obtaining a liquor license? To the blogger who stated that we don't need more access to liquor in this town, I must disagree. There are thousands of small towns in Wisconsin with a bar on every corner, we don't even have one single bar! Green Lake has nothing to worry about in that regard. This is a tourist town, and we could handle many more liquor licenses than we currently have. As far as I'm concerned, every restaraunt in Green Lake deserves to have one. I honestly wasn't aware that they didn't. There is nothing wrong with folks wanting to go out for a nice meal and a few drinks. This is pure greed on the part of the Heidel House. I thought Green Lake was trying to promote business here, not discourage it! Unbelievable....
1st anonymous - the city isn't lending anything - it's their right to determine how the license is classified - quota or not. The license is the same, it's not a different piece of paper. If anyone was paying attention to the law when the original license was issued, it would never have been counted as a quota.
The state provides for a city to manage its quota.
As far as a business opening knowing that only a beer/wine license would be issued - sometimes you take what you can get. What about the right to compete? Apparently you think the Heidel House should run the city.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a cocktail on the patio at the Marina Grill? I think so. This is a tourist town.
Enough said.
Heidel House losing revenue from small business? Are you kidding?
We are not attempting to get a liquor license at anyone's expense. We simply found out *from the state* that it's possible for a municipality to count a license out of it's quota for large businesses, which would free up a quota license. Other cities are doing it in order to support small businesses.
We know that we opened with only a beer and wine license. Our customers want liquor too.
If you read the news, you'll see that several other cities are in the same boat - including Lake Geneva.
We're trying to meet our customer's expectations.
And for the record, we're actively involved in lobbying the state to change the statue so all full service restaurants can get the license - not only our restaurant. We appreciate anyone who is willing to support the effort. We want to see Green Lake thrive.
Don't look at this as the Two Chez versus the Heidel House. I'm sure each division of the HH is run as an individual profit center. So the hotel, bar, Spa, Grey Rock and whatever else is out there has to stand on its own two feet and be profitable. That means the Grey Rock is in direct competition with all the downtown eating establishments for business. So don't assume that the HH should offer up its license as a gesture of good will. That would be giving a helping hand to the competition and most businesses try hard not to do that. The City sees this issue and is reluctant to implement any changes that would negatively impact its best client. That makes good business sense too.
So it's with the State. If the system is changed then it’s going to be difficult to implement something that is fair across the board, as is required. For example, if only one additional license were issued to GL, to whom should it go, the Marina or Two Chez?
The licensing issue might look easy to resolve on the surface, but there are many ramifications to consider, not least of which are the social concerns surrounding the increased access to hard alcohol.
Another major concern is the exploitation of loopholes arising from any decision to issue liquor licenses to any full-service restaurant, as has been tabled. It won't take long for someone to open a new bar, install a full-service food area, and expect to get a liquor license. This is open to potential abuse, making the State's decision even harder.
Often when it's difficult to predict all eventualities that might arise from a decision, the decision is made to do nothing.
Given the choice I would vote in favor of licenses for both the aforementioned establishments. But it ain’t my decision, thankfully.
DB
None of this really affects me, as I like to get drunk at home, and then go out to eat. Why should I pay $5 for a beer when I can get a 24 pack for $10!
However, I do undertand that many people can afford to drink and eat to their hearts content. The comments posted above by Drunken Bastard are informative and thoughtful... not at all what I usually expect to hear from the typical drunken bastards I know.
The GL Chamber works so hard to promote the local businesses, are they lobbying to help Two Chez and the Marina?
If the liquor license is not issued, maybe Two Chez could design a secret back room, like in prohibition times! I rather like the sound of the Two Chez Speakeasy!
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