Licenses & Fees Committee (Meets as needed, often on the 3rd Monday of the month at 3:30 p.m.)

Licenses and Fees Committee Meeting Minutes City of Superior, Wisconsin The meeting was called to order by Chair Fennessey at 3:30 pm on November 14, 2022 in Government Center Room 217. 1 ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Brent Fennessey (Chair), Mike Herrick (Vice Chair), Jack Sweeney Lindsey Graskey (Alternate) MEMBERS ABSENT: N/A CITY STAFF PRESENT: Mayor Paine, City Attorney Frog Prell, City Clerk Camila Ramos, Chief Building Inspector Peter Kruit, Director, Nick Rhinehart, Acting Director Deb Kamunen, Chief of Staff Becky Scherf, and Paralegal Starr Bowers OTHERS PRESENT: Nicole Loukes, Andrew Watson, Shelley Nelson, Bruce Barron, Maria Letsos, Jenny Van Sickle (via teleconference), and Craig Sutherland (via teleconference) 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2.1 Licenses & Fees Committee (Special Meeting held October 10, 2022) MOTION by Vice Chair Herrick to approve, seconded by Councilor Sweeney, carried. MOTION TO SUSPEND THE RULES to have the Committee take items out of order and hear New Business Item 4.3 after Item 2. There was no objection to this request. 4.3 Propose Future Meeting Topics Nicole Loukes, local business owner, addressed the committee. Loukes is recommending the committee review examples of Massage Therapy Business ordinance example out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin for consideration. She will work with City Clerk Ramos to compile the examples for the next agenda packet and further discussion. 3 OLD BUSINESS 4 NEW BUSINESS 4.1 Review of City Code Pertaining to lodging and corresponding tax collection in Article II, HOTELS, MOTELS AND ROOMING HOUSES. Clerk Camila Ramos shared that the Building Inspection and Finance Departments would like more time to propose an updated Hotel/Motel/Room tax code to incorporate part of the code implemented for Short Term Rentals Licensure. Clerk Ramos highlighted portions of the agenda packet provided with examples of other Wisconsin municipalities that offer Short Term Rental Licenses. Members of the Public Bruce Barron shared support of creating a policy that encourages ease of Page 1 of 4 use for property owners who are complying with tax payments to the City through their marketplace administrators such as AirBnB. Maria Letsos added that there needs to be more clarification for Short Term Rental owners on the reason additional licensing is needed and asked to better understand the reasons behind the City’s need for new licensing requirements in addition to the County Health licensing process and inspections. Mayor Paine clarified the reason for bringing Short Term Rental license to the City initially. He stated there are concerns about the growth of this industry as a major competitor of the hotel/motel industry. There may be merit to having a City license on top of the County Health requirements. Councilor Graskey suggested the importance of having information readily available to the public and rental unit owners through information on our website once policies are confirmed. She included reviewing and offering the County website’s resource page. Chief Building Inspector Kruit shared concerns that there are limits to when Building Inspection is allowed to go into rental properties for additional inspections. This could limit the ability of additional city ordinances that could require inspections in some cases. City Attorney Prell added that Chapter 66 of the state statutes provides that no city may enact an ordinance that requires a rental property or rental unit be inspected except upon a complaint by a person. The exception to this is related to areas identified by the municipality as a blighted neighborhood. Due to this, the city would not be able to require additional building inspection requirements for this licensure. Councilor Fennessey questioned that without additional building or fire inspection options, what added benefit is having a city license when inspection requirements are fulfilled with the county health inspection. Mayor Paine added that one benefit of a city license for short term rentals could be useful if multiple complaints or issues arise at a particular location, giving the city the option to issue and deny the ability to operate. Maria Letsos countered and advised that because of the reliance on reviews and oversight within the marketplace tools rental owners use to obtain customers, the city would actually find that short term rental establishments are overall in much better condition than the average long-term rental property. Letsos added with a description that the maintenance of a short-term rental allows owners to get inside their properties multiple times a month for upkeep, where long-term rentals lack that point of continual contact. Councilor Jenny Van Sickle asked if one of the reasons we need city licensure was the worry that private housing stock available for long-term renters would decrease as short-term rentals increased causing an erosion of the housing stock. Councilor Graskey added that one of the first stepping stones into building city ordinance around short-term rental licenses was to give the city options to limit the number of licenses available to protect the housing market availability and pricing for long-term rental options. Councilor Fennessey added that the idea of making a cap to these licenses would limit our city’s ability to offer flexible options to renters like those coming in for temporary workers such as the current short term employees we are seeing with the oil refinery or traveling nurses to local hospitals. Mayor Paine mentioned that one of the reasons other municipalities do impose caps on these licenses is to protect the affordability of housing. Licenses & Fees Committee Meeting, 10/10/2022 Page 2 of 4 He advised that having a cap on the number of licenses available is something worth investigating. Nicole Loukes (member of the public) added her perspective as a recent citizen in California that imposing a cap goes so far to help the municipality control the housing costs for long-term renters and curb the affordable housing crisis. MOTION, to hold in committee until next meeting, allowing code updates to become available by Councilor Fennessey, seconded by Sweeney, carried. Members of the public including Bruce Barron, Maria Letsos, Nicole Loukes and Andrew Watson left the meeting following Item 4.1. 4.2 REFERRAL FROM COMMON COUNCIL: Approval of an original Class “A” Beer and “Class A” Liquor (Cider Only) alcohol license application for Apple House LLC, dba Sutherland CBD, located at 5701 Tower Avenue (Agent: Craig Sutherland) for a period beginning on November 1, 2022 and ending on June 30, 2023. Councilor Graskey spoke regarding matter related to her professional experience. Graskey proposed the municipality and committee to ask itself, “does the municipality want to allow general merchandising establishments, like a CBD store, to sell alcoholic beverages for offsite consumption? Should the group consider reflecting if additional businesses to sell items like CBD, bars or gas stations for example?” Councilor Fennessey mentioned we have other businesses sell alcoholic beverages with CBD, for example, several of our liquor retailers and bars already offer these products. Councilor Fennessey has not yet heard of any issues arising from these establishments. Councilor Graskey shared that consideration of trends to marijuana related products should be considered not just for this business, but how it decisions are made into the future at multiple establishments. Member of the Public, Craig Sutherland was welcomed to speak over the virtual meeting room. His business plan is offering more diverse offerings such as bait and tackle for fisherman in addition to beer to supplement his CBD products to diversify over the winter months. He pointed out that many businesses in the city are already offering alcoholic beverages with CBD and/or THC components. He added that his establishment is only offering sales to customers aged 21 and over to be ahead of the industry as he supports the 21 and over guide versus the lesser 18 and over regulation by the state. Upon questioning by the committee Mr. Sutherland advised his alcoholic sales would not offer cannabis related components as it is his understanding these are not legal offerings. His intention with this license is to simply sell cases of beer to supplement items available at the store. Mayor Paine advised the city has never approved an established CBD store to be licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, while current alcoholic licensees have added CBD options into their already established retail options. This has not yet been considered by the Council before. Issuing a new license is a different and higher burden than renewing. The Council has a higher obligation to consider carefully the nature of the business, owner, and location for example to grant a new license. So far CBD and cannabis related items are not referenced in city ordinances. City Attorney Prell advised the committee and council should look at the application and exercise their discretion on allowing pre-packaged canned beer. Licenses & Fees Committee Meeting, 10/10/2022 Page 3 of 4 Councilor Van Sickle asked Mr. Sutherland if children were allowed into his store, and he agreed that children do come into the store to buy flavored iced drinks. Councilor Van Sickle felt a deeper discussion about the offering of cannabis alongside alcoholic beverages is warranted and this would be appreciated by the general public. Building Inspector Kruit, Finance Director ??, and Acting Director Kamunen excused themselves from the meeting at this point. Mayor Paine asked Owner Sutherland to describe his business model further. Mr. Sutherland advised it is a general store, selling snacks, beverages and limited food like soup, cannabis related items, and also bait and tackle. Vice Chair Herrick noted he would like time to visit the establishment in person and visit with Mr. Sutherland about his business model. MOTION to approve by Councilor Sweeney, seconded by Councilor Fennessey. MOTION to hold in committee until next meeting, by Vice Chair Herrick, seconded by Sweeney, carried. 5 ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at ??? pm. Respectfully submitted by Camila Ramos, City Clerk Licenses & Fees Committee Meeting, 10/10/2022 Page 4 of 4