Common Council Votes 9-1 To Renew Corner Pub’s Alcohol License

The Common Council met 08/21/2024. One of the items separated out for an individual vote was the renewal of the alcohol license for the Corner Pub.

The business was closed for over a year after experiencing damage due to a broken water pipe and was facing the non-renewal of its alcohol license on the grounds that the license had been abandoned. The deadline for reopening the business had been 05/30/2024, but the owner did not even begin taking substantive steps to repair the building until after that deadline had come and gone.

The item came before the Safety and Licensing Committee multiple times over a 1 ½ month period beginning 06/26/2024, keeping a regular license out of reach for other businesses, and finally on 08/14/2024 the committee recommended that the license be approved after being told that the business had been repaired and was ready to reopen.

The Common Council ended up voting 9-1 to approve the renewal of the Corner Pub’s license, thus allowing it to reopen.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:

Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) that he was recommending renewal of the license with some reluctance, and noted that communication from the city had been thorough from day one. [I took this to be a response to claims made in previous meetings by the license holder that she did not know that there was a 05/30/2024 deadline to reopen the business and that it had not been clear what issues in the building needed to be repaired before the building could be opened to the public.]

Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) indicated she would be voting against the renewal. “I’m glad for them that they are finally able to open and are going to be able to run their establishment, but I’m concerned about all the people that were passed over for their applications for liquor licenses during the time during which this license should have been surrendered for non-usage for one year, which is the statutory requirement. So, my vote tonight will be a no, only because I feel that the government’s role should not be favoritism or taking any particular one applicant over another. I believe that it should fairly apply all the rules, and this particular situation did not come down to that for me.”

The Council voted 9-1 to approve the renewal of the license with Alderperson Hartzheim casting the dissenting vote.

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1213514&GUID=81937D7D-E288-43F7-8B2B-974F7E8C9240