City council gives first-round approval to liquor-license changes, sidewalk cafes

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the changes in liquor license procedures.

Cape Girardeau's city council gave initial approval to an ordinance that would grant liquor licenses to businesses within 200 feet of a school or church at Monday's meeting and voiced support for allowing sidewalk cafes in the downtown area.

The liquor license ordinance passed 4-2 with council members Wayne Bowen and Meg Davis voting "no" after an amendment proposed by Bowen was voted down 4-2. Mayor Harry Rediger was joined by council members Mark Lanzotti, Loretta Schneider and Trent Summers in voting against the amendment and for the ordinance. Bowen's amendment would have prohibited the sale of packaged liquor within 200 feet of a church or school, but other council members said they felt all applications for liquor licenses should be considered by the city's Board of Adjustment, as laid out in the ordinance.

The ordinance, if given final approval by the council at its next meeting, will allow a business seeking a liquor license within 200 feet of a church or school to get consent from the Board of Adjustment.

City code was previously rewritten to remove a requirement that a business applying for a license get permission from a church or school after changes in state law.

Bowen said his reason for the amendment was that liquor stores being allowed in mixed-use areas can become problematic.

An ordinance that would amend the city code to reflect changes in state laws on caterers and other people who hold licenses to sell intoxicating liquor by the drink at functions or events also passed. The ordinance, if final readings are approved at the next council meeting, would lengthen the time permits and licenses are in effect.

A plan of the city to pass an ordinance that will establish a permit program for sidewalk cafes was also discussed at the council's study session.

City planner Ryan Shrimplin told the council the ordinance will establish criteria for allowable furniture, dimensions and layouts for outdoor cafe areas on downtown sidewalks.

Per the ordinance, sidewalk cafes would be allowed on Broadway between Water and Pacific streets, on Water Street between Broadway and Independence Street, and on Main and Spanish streets between Broadway and Merriwether Street. The ordinance also includes rules for the operation of sidewalk cafes, including allowable hours, requirements related to safety and liquor licenses, and would give the city the ability to suspend permits when special event permits are issued and suspend or revoke permits if the city determines ordinance criteria or health regulations are not met.

The completion last fall of a 15-foot-wide promenade sidewalk along Broadway as part of a corridor improvement project has helped the push for allowing sidewalk cafes.

"This is something that has been requested by several business owners, particularly in the downtown district," Shrimplin said. "It's also in anticipation of future businesses that are expected to go in along Broadway."

Mayor Harry Rediger called the ordinance "a new venture in our downtown," that will help aid businesses and restaurants, and said sidewalk cafes would "add to the ambience of what we are trying to create in the streetscape."

"I think this is exactly what some people are looking for in the downtown area and the Old Town Cape area," Rediger said.

Permits would be issued by the city after final passage of the ordinance, which could come during the council's second meeting in October. A first reading and vote for the ordinance is planned for the Oct. 7 meeting.

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