City officials want to ensure that the property owner and business could avoid the possibility of having its liquor license eliminated should voters fail a local option planned to be placed on the ballot next spring for Sunday sales in that new district, according to City Manager Bill Brock.
“It appears that the legislature did not contemplate a community taking an entire Entertainment District to a vote for Sunday sales when they wrote the relevant statutory provisions,” he said in his report. “As such, there are several unintended consequences if the voters do not approve the issue. One of these consequences is that existing Sunday sales permit holders could lose their Sunday sales privileges.”
The community entertainment district was created last year in an effort to increase the availability of full liquor licenses in the general area where the city is likely to see the highest demand for such licenses instead of being tied to the traditional quota system based on population.
In addition, the community entertainment district also allows one vote for a larger area in a local option election to allow Sunday sales. City officials and other community leaders believe having this in place will help attract more restaurants to the Monroe as well as other amenities not available.
“This is designed to attract restaurants and other businesses who may have shied away from coming to Monroe because the liquor license process is difficult,” Councilman Steve Black said.
Council will have a second reading and hold a possible adoption of the proposed ordinance at its next meeting.
In a similar measure, council repealed a previous ordinance concerning the boundaries of one of its community reinvestment area and adopted new boundaries. However, that ordinance, originally adopted as emergency legislation, had to be repealed so that a new ordinance setting the amended boundaries could be considered to prevent any future legal challenges.
The new boundary adjustment was needed as the Bishop ranch west of Interstate 75 was not part of the CRA and developers would not have access to that program, which would need council approval. It would also make the area consistent with the city’s development approach for other similar sites in Monroe and would all have business park zoning, according to Brock.
The new boundary ordinance received a first reading and is expected to be adopted at council’s next meeting.
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