| By Neil Johnson, reporter/anchor, Big Radio |
A Janesville city official says Tuesday’s decision by the city’s liquor board to OK a beer garden license for the Rock County Fair fair is now under review by the city attorney’s office.
The city’s alcohol license advisory committee voted 5-2 Tuesday to OK a Class B temporary license for the fair to have a beer garden next to its main entertainment stage.
Council member Paul Williams is also the liquor board’s chairman. He voted “no” on the license Tuesday.
Williams tells the WCLO Radio News desk the city attorney is now reviewing whether the city council can pull the liquor board’s decision for review at the council’s upcoming meeting Monday.
City rules on temporary liquor licenses are that the liquor board can grant an event liquor license under a streamlined process that doesn’t require city council review or approval.
The city’s temporary liquor license rules streamline the process for licensing based on the idea that such licenses are intended for one-day or two-day festivals and special events.
It’s a less robust process than for permanent business liquor licenses, which typically require city council review and approval alongside liquor board approval.
But Williams says another city liquor license rule indicates the council can opt to crosscheck any decision by the city’s liquor board.
The license OK’d by the liquor board Tuesday would give the Rock County Fair’s governing board the authority to run a beer garden at the fair six days in a row. The liquor board on Tuesday made no recommendation in granting the license that it sought the city council’s review.
Williams says under city rules, a pair of council members are allowed to request the liquor board’s decision Tuesday on the beer garden license placed on an upcoming city council agenda.
That would open the liquor board’s decision for review by the council similarly to how bar and restaurant licenses are reviewed.
It’s not clear whether that puts the formal issuance of the fair’s license in limbo, at least for a few days, while under city review.
It also wasn’t clear Wednesday whether or not the liquor board’s decision on the fair’s beer garden is bound for Monday’s city council agenda, or whether the issue could have to wait to be slated for a future council meeting.
A Monday council meeting agenda the city posted online Wednesday afternoon makes no mention of any discussion of the licensing issue.
The city’s review of the liquor board’s decision comes at a time when the fair seeks to book entertainment at its main stage for this year’s fair.
Fair board officials say the request for a beer garden license comes as the fair has found fewer music acts that want to book shows at fairs that lack entertainment amenities such as beer gardens.
The fair is hoping a beer garden will boost attendance, revenue and the fair’s draw as an entertainment venue.
Williams said at Tuesday’s liquor board meeting that he was disappointed the fair board had not briefed those in the neighborhood surrounding the fair on its plan before it requested its first-ever beer garden license.
Others on the liquor board pointed out that other alcohol event organizers have never been required to hold town hall meetings with neighbors prior to planning such events.
