MONROE - Beer gardens are in vogue, and the City of Monroe is preparing for an increase in tavern and restaurant requests to extend their beer sales to the great outdoors.
Members of the Monroe's License Committee and Public Safety Committee met jointly Wednesday to review a list of proposed guidelines for temporary beer garden permits. The guidelines were compiled by City Clerk Carol Stamm and Police Chief Fred Kelley at the committees' request.
Beer gardens are nothing new in Wisconsin, and Kelley said there have been no problems in the past with beer gardens in Monroe. But he and Stamm said the city is getting more requests from establishments to set up beer gardens, especially for special events.
Kelley said a set of standardized guidelines would formalize the application process, "level the playing field" and address public safety.
"Beer gardens are trending," Stamm said, "and we want to be proactive, rather than reactive." Stamm noted other Wisconsin cities have implemented such guidelines.
Stamm's office has already received one request for a beer garden during Cheese Days in September and is expecting at least one more. The License Committee approved on Wednesday two other temporary outdoor beer gardens, one for mid-June and the other for early July.
Some of the new guidelines deal with gardens extending into public sidewalks and streets; fire and emergency vehicle access; and monitoring occupancy and gateways. Committee members nixed the guidelines restricting beer gardens to only the downtown area and to only special events held by non-profit organizations.
Stamm and Kelley had proposed a $100 fee to cover costs of processing and safety inspections, but committee members wanted the fee reduced to $25 per day, in line with sidewalk café annual license renewal fees.
Stamm and Kelley will make the guideline revisions to the beer garden permit applications before bringing them back for committee approval. The Common Council is expected to vote on the changes Tuesday, June 19.
While many bars and taverns owners applied for some type of outdoor smoking accommodation after the state passed a no-smoking ban in 2010, temporary outdoor beer gardens usually are requested to accommodate a crowd larger than the tavern's regular clientele.
Monroe is not the only place in the country seeing the return of beer gardens. In October 2011, the magazine Travel and Leisure called beer gardens "the new coffee shop" popping up across America, a trend in tandem with the American beer revival, along with "more domestic breweries than at any time since Prohibition (1,595 as of 2009)."
Members of the Monroe's License Committee and Public Safety Committee met jointly Wednesday to review a list of proposed guidelines for temporary beer garden permits. The guidelines were compiled by City Clerk Carol Stamm and Police Chief Fred Kelley at the committees' request.
Beer gardens are nothing new in Wisconsin, and Kelley said there have been no problems in the past with beer gardens in Monroe. But he and Stamm said the city is getting more requests from establishments to set up beer gardens, especially for special events.
Kelley said a set of standardized guidelines would formalize the application process, "level the playing field" and address public safety.
"Beer gardens are trending," Stamm said, "and we want to be proactive, rather than reactive." Stamm noted other Wisconsin cities have implemented such guidelines.
Stamm's office has already received one request for a beer garden during Cheese Days in September and is expecting at least one more. The License Committee approved on Wednesday two other temporary outdoor beer gardens, one for mid-June and the other for early July.
Some of the new guidelines deal with gardens extending into public sidewalks and streets; fire and emergency vehicle access; and monitoring occupancy and gateways. Committee members nixed the guidelines restricting beer gardens to only the downtown area and to only special events held by non-profit organizations.
Stamm and Kelley had proposed a $100 fee to cover costs of processing and safety inspections, but committee members wanted the fee reduced to $25 per day, in line with sidewalk café annual license renewal fees.
Stamm and Kelley will make the guideline revisions to the beer garden permit applications before bringing them back for committee approval. The Common Council is expected to vote on the changes Tuesday, June 19.
While many bars and taverns owners applied for some type of outdoor smoking accommodation after the state passed a no-smoking ban in 2010, temporary outdoor beer gardens usually are requested to accommodate a crowd larger than the tavern's regular clientele.
Monroe is not the only place in the country seeing the return of beer gardens. In October 2011, the magazine Travel and Leisure called beer gardens "the new coffee shop" popping up across America, a trend in tandem with the American beer revival, along with "more domestic breweries than at any time since Prohibition (1,595 as of 2009)."