Cape Girardeau City Council gives liquor license power to city manager

In a move meant to "streamline and shorten" the process, city manager Scott Meyer will decide who gets a liquor license and who doesn't under a new policy given final approval Monday night by the Cape Girardeau City Council.

The council until now had considered every liquor license request, which consists of 20 to 25 new applications a year and about 120 renewals.

The ordinance, which goes into effect May 27, shifts that authority to Meyer but also implements two levels of appeals -- a new three-member liquor license review board and a final council review if the applicant requests it.

"I looked at it and thought it was something that seems to make sense," Meyer said in an interview before the council meeting.

Meyer brought the idea to the council at its annual retreat last month. The council then asked Meyer to research how other communities handle liquor licenses. The ordinance is modeled on a similar one in Columbia, Mo.

"Some handled it at the council level and others made it a staff decision, as long as there were appeals procedures in place," Meyer said.

No recent incident spurred the change in policy, Meyer said, including the controversial liquor license that the council granted in March. After a preliminary denial, council members granted a liquor license for Cape Mart on North Fountain Street despite heavy opposition from residents.

Council members said in reversing their decision that they had no choice because it was essentially a ministerial act. That means that because the business owner had satisfied all of the city's liquor license requirements, the council legally had no real choice other than to grant it.

"A lot of times their hands are really tied," Meyer said. "They really can't say no, so we didn't see it making much sense sending it to them."

City attorney Eric Cunningham, who drafted the ordinance, agreed.

"A number of other cities never threw that in front of the city council anyway," Cunningham said. "It makes these ministerial acts political and puts the council in an awkward situation."

Mark Dirnberger owns Bella Italia in downtown Cape Girardeau and is also the president of the Southeast Missouri Restaurant Association. While he didn't attend the meeting, Dirnberger worried Monday that licenses would not go through enough public scrutiny if the city manager was handling the requests and they were not coming before the council.

"If it goes to council, it gets a lot more opinions," Dirnberger said. "One person handling all of it may not know everything. I'd hate to see an application just get a rubber stamp. A liquor license is a big responsibility, and, frankly, some people don't need to be in the bar business."

Liquor license applications will still be reviewed by the police department and the appeals procedures will provide safeguards, Meyer said. Opponents can let Meyer know of their objections and either side can appeal to the three-member review board, made up of two city staff members and a council-appointed resident. Applicants can also appeal again to the council, which will have final say.

Neighbors who oppose liquor licenses being granted, however, cannot appeal to the council level, Cunningham said. A neighbor is defined in the ordinance as "as person residing, owning property or maintaining a place of business" within 200 feet of the business.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO