Liquor Commission

City of Naperville 400 S. Eagle Street Naperville, IL 60540 Meeting Minutes - Final Thursday, February 8, 2024 3:00 PM Council Chambers Liquor Commission Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 8, 2024 A. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 3:00 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: Staff Present: Rachel Pruneda, Assistant to the Mayor, Detective Marty Creighton, Liquor & Tobacco Liaison, Naperville Police Department, Jennifer Lutzke Bonner, Senior Assistant City Attorney Also Present: Christine Jeffries, President of Naperville Development Partnership Present 6- Steve Chirico, Kelly Douglas, John Koranda, Ray McGury, Anthony Signorella, and Mayor Scott Wehrli Absent 1- Mitch Stauffer C. PUBLIC FORUM: None. D. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Approve the regular Liquor Commission meeting minutes of January 4, 2024 Attachments: Jan 4 2024 Draft Meeting Minutes Commissioner Chirico made a motion to approve the regular Liquor Commission meeting minutes of January 4, 2024, seconded by Commissioner Douglas. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. E. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Consider Garfield’s Request for a Variance and Class D - Package Store Liquor License Attachments: Naperville Presentation Garfield's Floorplan Garfield's Variance At Thursday’s meeting, three representatives from Garfield’s Beverage Warehouse, David Garfield, Adam Silverstein and Eric Prechtel an Illinois-based beer, wine, and liquor store, sought a Class D - Package Store Liquor License for their 88 W. Gartner Rd., a 3,800-square-foot vacant building between Trader Joe’s and Oswald’s Pharmacy.They described themselves as an upscale Liquor store that will be located in Naperville Plaza Shopping Center that will give customers a unique experience. A motion was made by Commissioner Chirico to recommend approval of Garfield's request for a variance of the square footage requirement for a Class D City of Naperville Page 1 Printed on 4/4/2024 Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 8, 2024 liquor license be referred to the next City Council meeting, seconded by Commissioner McGury. Motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5- Chirico, Douglas, Koranda, McGury, and Signorella Excused: 1- Mayor Wehrli Absent: 1- Stauffer 2. Consider Naper Settlement’s Request for Expansion of the Class T - Heritage Society Cultural Liquor License Attachments: Naper Settlement City Liquor license letter 2024 Naper Settlement Net Income Loss By Building A motion was made by Commissioner Chirico to table the item to consider Naper Settlement's request for expansion of the Class T - Heritage Society Cultural Liquor License, seconded by Commissioner Koranda. The motion passed by the following vote: Aye: 5- Chirico, Douglas, Koranda, McGury, and Signorella Excused: 1- Mayor Wehrli Absent: 1- Stauffer 3. Consider Block 59’s Request for Pour Limit Increases for Beer and Wine Attachments: Block 59 Project Liquor Commission Meeting - FINALv2 Andy Balzar, a developer of Brixmoor Group presented on behalf of Block 59. Ruth Chris and Yardhouse are considering opening in Naperville, however, they are asking for an increase of a single serving size of beer from 24 ounces to 32 ounces and an increase in the serving size of wine from 6 ounces to 9 ounces. Representatives from Brixmoor stated that they are humbly asking for Naperville's support to make the necessary changes to move this project forward. Andy stating that it is predicted that if Yard House and Ruth Chris were not on board that half of their potential clients/leases would cancel and no longer move forward with this project. Yard House has 88 locations and Ruth Chris has 134 locations and the developer said that this is the first time the restaurant owners have run into there being a limit on the amount of beer and wine that can be served on a single serving. Commissioners were not concerned with increasing the serving size of wine, but did bring up several concerns with increasing the serving size of beer from 24 ounces to 32 ounces. Mayor Wehrli asked while making this consideration for Yard House and Ruth Chris, would this apply to all Class B Licensees to which Jennifer Lutzke City of Naperville Page 2 Printed on 4/4/2024 Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 8, 2024 Bonner replied that it would apply to all Class B Licensee holders. The developer stated that the project is scheduled to take 5 years to complete. Commissioners wanted to clarify that this is for a 32 ounce draft beer and not a prepackaged container. Andy replied that this request is for a single draft beer. Wehrli recognized that it is unusual to have the developer instead of the actual licensee come before the Commission to make this request. Christine Jeffries who is representing Naperville Development Partnership spoke on behalf of the developers adding that all of our sellers and servers are required to attend a Naperville BASSET training class that is specific to Naperville and that they are well trained. Christine stated that they are asking that this request apply to only full service restaurants that have a Class B license. Commissioners did ask whether we could limit the number of servings and alcohol content, however, Detective Creighton noted that this type of rule would be hard to enforce. Jennifer Lutzke Bonner adding that monitoring alcohol by content is difficult to regulate. Commissioner Douglas stated that she felt that we needed to learn a little more before making this decision. There are questions that were raised today about the number of servings and alcohol content that the developer was not prepared to answer. The developer stated that the 32 ounce beer is only 3 - 6 % of their sales. He does not think this will be an issue. A motion was made by Commissioner Chirico to increase the single serving pour size of wine to 9 ounces, seconded by Commissioner McGury. The motion passed by the following vote: AYES: Chirico, Douglas, Signorella, McGury, Koranda (5) NAYS: (0) A motion was made by Commissioner Chirico to request a Pour Limit increase of beer/cider from 24 to 32 ounces, limited to one serving and be referred to the next City Council meeting, seconded by Koranda. A motion in substitution was made by Commissioner Douglas to table the item for more information from the Petitioner and staff regarding the restrictions and the size of a single serving size. Motion failed for lack of a second. A motion was made by Commissioner Chirico to request a Pour Limit increase of beer/cider from 24 to 32 ounces, limited to one serving and be referred to the next City Council meeting, seconded by Commissioner Koranda. The motion passed by the following vote: AYES: Chirico, Signorella, Koranda (3) City of Naperville Page 3 Printed on 4/4/2024 Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 8, 2024 NAYS: Douglas, McGury (2) Aye: 5- Chirico, Douglas, Koranda, McGury, and Signorella Excused: 1- Mayor Wehrli Absent: 1- Stauffer F. REPORTS: 1. Restaurant Association Report - Jeffries Christine Jeffries reported that Restaurant Week was a huge success. 50 restaurants participated this year. We allowed restaurants to have a pre -fixed menu and the smaller restaurants offered discounts. We had 360,000 visitors click on the site due to restaurant week. 2. BASSET- Employee Training Statistics - Creighton Detective Creighton reported that we had 66 in-person attendees in January 2024 and 7 on-line renewals. 3. Tobacco Enforcement Review - Creighton Detective Creighton reported that we are coming on 2nd check of the fiscal year which will be in the middle of March. 4. Liquor Report - Creighton Creighton reported that there were 9 DUI's in January, 2024 compared to 12 DUI's in January, 2023. 5. Liquor Concept Committee Update - Pruneda Since the last Liquor Commission Meeting, the Liquor Concept Committee had one meeting on January 18, 2024. The following concepts were discussed: Garfield’s Beverage, 88 W Gartner Road, Suite 104 New business seeking a Class D - Package Store license. Their request is in process. Hammer and Nails, 790 Royal St. George, Suites 113-114 A higher end men’s salon seeking a Class M - Lifestyle Amenities License. Their request is in process. City of Naperville Page 4 Printed on 4/4/2024 Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 8, 2024 G. EXECUTIVE SESSION: H. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Chirico made a motion to adjourn the Liquor Commission meeting of February 8, 2024 at 4:26 p.m., seconded by Commissioner Koranda. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. /S/ Rachel Pruneda Rachel Pruneda Assistant to the Mayor City of Naperville Page 5 Printed on 4/4/2024