The Common Council met 02/19/2025. One of the things they voted on was the alcohol license application for Delaire’s. This license application has been outstanding since October of 2024 and has bounced back and forth between the Safety and Licensing Committee and placed on hold multiple times as the committee investigated and reviewed concerns that the owner, David Boulanger, intended to operate illegal gambling machines in the business.
On 02/19/2025, that limbo status ended as the Common Council voted 13-2 to deny the license application. Alderpersons Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) and Chris Croatt (District 14) cast the two dissenting votes.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
Mr. Boulanger had initially proposed to open Delaire’s as a spiked coffee bar. Concerns were raised by a neighboring business owner who was told by a contractor working on the business space that gambling machines were going to be installed. Additionally, Mr. Boulanger had attempted to open an illegal gambling lounge in the Village of Grafton. In response to these concerns, Mr. Boulanger presented the Safety and Licensing Committee with a revamped business model and indicated he intended to make Delaire’s a board game lounge, pointing to a business called The Boardroom in West Bend as a model. A check of The Boardroom’s facebook page revealed that it featured gambling machines. The police were eventually able to identify the contractor who had told the neighboring business owner that Delaire’s would have gambling machines. He turned out to be not only a contractor working on the space but also a part owner of the building, and he confirmed the statement to police that he had previously made to the next door business owner. The committee ended up recommending the license be denied.
Mr. Boulanger spoke at the Common Council meeting. He felt that he was being treated unfairly, saying, “I spent months working through this process, answering every question, providing every document, and making it clear that I will follow the rules, but despite that, my application for a liquor license is being denied not because I’ve done anything wrong but because of speculation about what might happen. I’m here to ask for fairness, not special treatment.” He also told the Council that there were multiple other businesses in the city that currently had gambling machines and were allowed to operate without issue.
In response to the two women who had voiced opposition to his license application at a previous Council meeting he said, “They both work at a beauty salon next to me in the same building as my business is supposed to be, and they testified to unfounded fears about what hypothetical gambling clients may or may not do, and the fact that they will be using the same restroom.”
He finished up by saying, “I have committed, on several occasions, to not having any illegal gambling machines and to abiding by all city regulations. I know where this is going. I know that no matter what I say tonight, some of you have already made up your minds. This process has been dragged on for months. My name has been dragged through the mud and by the media and by even some alders here. A simple liquor license application has turned into a public spectacle, and I have to ask why. If I had done something wrong, fine; deny my license. But if the only reason is that I’m being denied is because of what people assume I might do, that’s not how fairness works. I came into this process in good faith. I answered every question, I provided every document, I agreed to every condition. This is absolutely not fair.”
There was minimal discussion on this item by the members of the Council.
Alderperson Chris Croatt pointed out that the item had been voted on by the Safety and Licensing Committee several times and had initially been recommended for approval twice before the most recent recommendation to deny. In his opinion that, “shows that the committee, you know, really tried to understand all the factors in this case and took into account the factual information that was presented.” He also pointed out that the item had been held at committee a couple times at the request of the applicant.
Alderperson Croatt also stated, “I do want to, I do want to say that the applicant has stated at committee meetings what he stated tonight, as far as his intent with his business, and his comments on the gaming machines, or gambling machines, is consistent with what we heard at committee since they changed their business plan.”
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland briefly commented, “[T]he applicant did provide a model business that advertises gambling on their Facebook page, and that, for me, is the biggest reason why I’ll vote against this.”
The Common Council went on to vote 13-2 to deny the license with Alderpersons Hartzheim and Croatt casting the 2 nay votes.
As was mentioned during the most recent Safety and Licensing Committee meeting, the denial of the alcohol license does not mean that the business cannot open and it will not necessarily prevent him from being able to install and operate illegal gambling machines should he choose to do that. All denial of the license means is that the business could not legally serve alcohol.
[I think Mr. Boulanger’s claims of being treated unfairly were a little disingenuous. He previously tried to open a gambling lounge. When concerns started being raised he hired a lawyer who had more than a passing familiarity with loopholes in Wisconsin’s gambling laws. He revamped his business plan with the supposed aim of eliminated concerns about gambling but then, as a business model he intended to mirror, pointed to The Boardroom which is run by his brother-in-law and which advertises illegal gambling machines on the premises. Methinks his claims about having his name dragged through the mud are a little overwrought.]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1254912&GUID=B757A893-3C2B-43F2-B22A-EDF53CE044A3
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