Safety And Licensing Committee Votes To Hold Core’s Lounge Alcohol License Application Until June 28 Meeting

The Safety and Licensing Committee met 06/14/2023. It was a short meeting, clocking in at around 12 minutes, half of which was taken up with discussion about the Class B Beer License Application for Core’s Lounge. Alderperson William Siebers (District 1) initially moved to deny the application, but due to the lack of a input from the Police Department as well as the absence of a city attorney at the meeting to provide advice, the committee ended up holding the item until the committee’s next meeting on 06/28/2023.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the conversation for download.

In April of 2022, Core’s Lounge had its alcohol license revoked after it accumulated over 200 license demerit points within an 18-month period. Additionally, in 2021, several neighbors in nearby residential properties had complained about noise generated by Core’s, although those complaints did not result in anything actionable at the time.

A year later, the owner of Core’s Lounge has applied for a new alcohol license, so he can start serving beer again. [I was a little surprised given the history Core’s Lounge has with the city and with the Safety and Licensing Committee specifically, that the owner or a representative did not attend the Safety and Licensing Committee meeting, but be that as it may…]

Alderperson Siebers immediately moved to deny the application. Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) expressed a preference for holding the item because Lieutnant Nagel, the police officer who handled license applications, had been on vacation and had not been able to submit a memo to the committee. Additionally, it sounded like members of the Attorney’s Office had been unavailable, so they also had not been able to submit a memo.

Alderperson Siebers was understanding of that but also stated, “We pretty much know the history of this establishment, and I don’t know if anything’s been changed, other than the fact that they’re no longer in operation. I would be definitely opposed to this considering the history. I feel sorry for the neighbors that that have lived behind this place. I felt sorry for them when they were going through the problems. And I felt so hopeless because there was really nothing we could do. And so, to me, anything the police would say in favor of I would still oppose it.”

Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) was concerned about going through the denial process without legal counsel being present.

As a result, Alderperson Siebers withdrew his motion to deny, allowing Alderperson Croatt to make a motion to hold the item until the 06/28/2023. This will allow time for staff to prepare a memo and for the owner to attend the meeting should he so desire.

At least one resident of the neighborhood near Core’s Lounge attended the meeting. Presumably, she intended to oppose approval of the license. She was given the opportunity to speak, but, given that the item was going to be held for two weeks, she decided she preferred to wait until the next meeting to provide her feedback.

Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) mentioned that his understanding was there were violations at Core’s Lounge even after the license was pulled but held off on discussing it any further. [So I guess, we can take that as a bit of a teaser for what we may learn about at the committee meeting on 06/28/2023.]

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1099731&GUID=C243822D-20EA-4A95-9D2B-BA4BB687F2B0