MONROE - Wal-Mart has survived without a liquor license until now. Whether it will have to do so, remains an open question.
The Judiciary and Ordinance Committee ran out of time at its meeting Tuesday night and extended the discussion until its next meeting June 17.
Wal-Mart had requested the city expand its quota on Class "A" Fermented Malt Beverage and Liquor licenses, hoping to carry the products in its new super store set to open sometime in the next 12 months.
"Everyone thinks this is Wal-Mart only," Alderman Thurston Hanson said at the meeting.
But he said Walgreens, as well as other businesses, could be looking for liquor licenses. The only thing stopping them from applying is the knowledge that the city has reached its quota, he said.
Hanson called liquor license quota anti-business and anti-competition.
"This is a quota we can do something about," he said. "We are not beholden to the quota set by previous councils."
Monroe city code places a total quota of 29 for the retail Class "A" Fermented Malt Beverage and Liquor license and for the bar and tavern "B" license. Monroe has 23 Class "B" licenses, and 6 retail Class "A" licenses. Class "B" quotas are set by the state according to population. In order to increase Class "A" licenses, the Council would have to split the classes.
Alderman Charles Koch was against any expansion of liquor quotas, saying the quotas should be "under lock and key until it is required." He noted alcohol contributes to 30,000 deaths a year.
Paul Hannes agreed with Hanson, but noted Koch's concern.
Having another outlet "wouldn't really make that much difference," he said. "But if it is something that should be controlled, then if that's the case, it should have been controlled quite a while back," he said.
Alderman Dan Henke commended Wal-Mart Manager Ron Fager for having "done very well" without selling liquor.
Henke said he was "torn" about increasing the city quotas because of the number of families in the city who shop at Wal-Mart.
"There's a lot of things you could be selling and you're not," he told Fager.
Fager said he'd be willing to meet the city half-way with just a retail beer license.
"When this first came out, they wanted just the fermented (malt beverage) and wine, and that's perfectly fine with me, to stay away from the hard liquor. Honestly, it's a pretty high theft area anyway," Fager said in the meeting.
But Hanson recommended that Council consider increasing quotas for not just Class A beer, but also for the full Class A.
Jan Lefevre spoke about the problem of making "a change for one."
The Judiciary and Ordinance Committee ran out of time at its meeting Tuesday night and extended the discussion until its next meeting June 17.
Wal-Mart had requested the city expand its quota on Class "A" Fermented Malt Beverage and Liquor licenses, hoping to carry the products in its new super store set to open sometime in the next 12 months.
"Everyone thinks this is Wal-Mart only," Alderman Thurston Hanson said at the meeting.
But he said Walgreens, as well as other businesses, could be looking for liquor licenses. The only thing stopping them from applying is the knowledge that the city has reached its quota, he said.
Hanson called liquor license quota anti-business and anti-competition.
"This is a quota we can do something about," he said. "We are not beholden to the quota set by previous councils."
Monroe city code places a total quota of 29 for the retail Class "A" Fermented Malt Beverage and Liquor license and for the bar and tavern "B" license. Monroe has 23 Class "B" licenses, and 6 retail Class "A" licenses. Class "B" quotas are set by the state according to population. In order to increase Class "A" licenses, the Council would have to split the classes.
Alderman Charles Koch was against any expansion of liquor quotas, saying the quotas should be "under lock and key until it is required." He noted alcohol contributes to 30,000 deaths a year.
Paul Hannes agreed with Hanson, but noted Koch's concern.
Having another outlet "wouldn't really make that much difference," he said. "But if it is something that should be controlled, then if that's the case, it should have been controlled quite a while back," he said.
Alderman Dan Henke commended Wal-Mart Manager Ron Fager for having "done very well" without selling liquor.
Henke said he was "torn" about increasing the city quotas because of the number of families in the city who shop at Wal-Mart.
"There's a lot of things you could be selling and you're not," he told Fager.
Fager said he'd be willing to meet the city half-way with just a retail beer license.
"When this first came out, they wanted just the fermented (malt beverage) and wine, and that's perfectly fine with me, to stay away from the hard liquor. Honestly, it's a pretty high theft area anyway," Fager said in the meeting.
But Hanson recommended that Council consider increasing quotas for not just Class A beer, but also for the full Class A.
Jan Lefevre spoke about the problem of making "a change for one."