The Aurora City Council is looking at possibly reducing the necessary distance between establishments that serve liquor and other kinds of institutions.
A proposed amendment in the liquor law seeks to allow for an exemption from the requirement which prohibits the sale of liquor within 100 feet of a church, grade school, middle school, alternative school or high school, hospital or home for indigent persons.
Aldermen will hear about the possible amendment at the Committee of the Whole meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the 5th Floor Conference Room at City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place.
The requirement is a state law. In 2018, the General Assembly amended the Liquor Control Act to allow for local municipalities to reduce the prohibition on liquor licenses within 100 feet of those institutions. The legislature specifically added a section to the statute that says, “a local liquor control commissioner may grant an exemption to the prohibition … if a local rule or ordinance authorizes the local liquor control commissioner to grant that exemption.”
The amendment to the city’s liquor ordinance would allow liquor licenses to be granted under certain circumstances where the establishment seeking the sale of liquor is within 100 feet of a church, school, hospital or home for indigent persons. The amendment outlines a specific process for an establishment to submit for a reduction requirement with their application for a liquor license.
A hearing officer would review the request for a reduction and consider nine factors in making a decision on whether to recommend or deny the distance reduction. The factors would determine if granting the license would not detrimentally impact the affected institution.
After reviewing the factors, if the administrative hearing officer recommends a reduction, the liquor commissioner, which is the mayor, could then grant the exemption.
The amendment does not automatically allow for liquor licenses to be granted within 100 feet of churches, schools, hospitals, or homes for indigent persons, it simply grants the liquor commissioner the ability to grant a license after review.
Members of the council’s Rules, Administration and Procedures Committee recommended the amendment. Tuesday night would be the first time the entire council would consider it.
slord@tribpub.com
