Liquor Commission — Naperville, IL
Date: 2021-11-04

400 S. Eagle Street
 City of Naperville Naperville, IL 60540



 Meeting Agenda

 Liquor Commission

Thursday, November 4, 2021 3:00 PM Council Chambers




A. CALL TO ORDER:

B. ROLL CALL:

C. PUBLIC FORUM:

D. OLD BUSINESS:
 21-1440 Approve the revision to Liquor Commission rules adding a pre-application
 meeting requirement for new special event organizers

E. NEW BUSINESS:
 21-1441 Consider Features Bar & Grill’s request for an extension of the temporary
 outdoor seating provision

F. REPORTS:
 21-1438 Approve the regular Liquor Commission meeting minutes of October 7,
 2021

 21-1439 Approve the regular Liquor Commission meeting dates for 2022


 1. Restaurant Association Report - Jeffries

 2. BASSET- Employee Training Statistics - Riggs

 3. Tobacco Enforcement Review - Riggs

 4. Liquor Report - Riggs

 5. Liquor Concept Committee Update - Barfuss


G. EXECUTIVE SESSION:




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Liquor Commission Meeting Agenda November 4, 2021



H. ADJOURNMENT:
 Any individual with a disability requesting a reasonable accommodation in order to
 participate in a public meeting should contact the Communications Department at least
 48 hours in advance of the scheduled meeting. The Communications Department can
 be reached in person at 400 S. Eagle Street, Naperville, IL., via telephone at
 630-420-6707 or 630-305-5205 (TDD) or via e-mail at info@naperville.il.us. Every effort
 will be made to allow for meeting participation.




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City of Naperville

 400 S. Eagle Street
 Naperville, IL 60540




Meeting Minutes - Final

Thursday, November 4, 2021

 3:00 PM



 Council Chambers



 Liquor Commission
Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021


A. CALL TO ORDER:

 Mayor Chirico called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM


B. ROLL CALL:
 Present 7- Mayor Steve Chirico, Dana Davenport, John Koranda, Charles Maher, Anthony
 Signorella, Joe Vozar, and Scott Wehrli
 Absent 3- Karyn Charvat, Mitch Stauffer, and Kimberly White




 Staff Present: Miranda Barfuss, Assistant to City Council; Jennifer Lutzke,
 Senior Assistant City Attorney; Dan Riggs, Police Detective; Marty
 Creighton, Police Officer; Dawn Portner, Special Events Coordinator


C. PUBLIC FORUM:

 None

D. OLD BUSINESS:

 Approve the revision to Liquor Commission rules adding a pre-application meeting
 requirement for new special event organizers
 Attachments: Liquor Commissioner's Rules DRAFT 110421

 Mayor Chirico reviewed discussion from the last meeting regarding adding
 a requirement for a pre-application meeting with new special event
 organizers to ensure they understand the liquor rules in Naperville and the
 broader discussion of event management companies partnering with a
 local non-profit organization only in order to acquire a Special Event
 Permit. They give a token donation to the non-profit partner and then keep
 all the proceeds from the event while the non-profit, as license holder, is
 taking the risk for the event, which was not the intent of the Special Event
 Permit.

 Lutzke reported on research she conducted, at the request of
 Commissioner Wehrli, on the Illinois Liquor Control Commission’s
 third-party promoter rule. The rule only applies to the relationship between
 manufacturers and retailers and does not apply to special events. She went
 on to say that the proposed rule on the agenda addresses the requirement
 for a pre-application meeting with the Mayor, the police liaison to the Liquor
 Commissioner, and other applicable staff. It was not clear from the last
 meeting if there was a consensus on requiring a percentage of event profit
 to be given to the non-profit liquor license holder or other information the
 Commission wants to include.
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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021



 Commissioner Koranda made a motion to approve the addition of the liquor
 commission rule as presented, seconded by Vozar. The motion was approved
 and carried by the following vote:

 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White




 Wehrli reported that our liquor code defines a Third-Party Promoter as “an
 unlicensed, paid or unpaid, person or entity engaged in the business of or
 assists in the marketing, operating and organizing an event.” He went on to
 say that historically there were issues with third-party promoters and Class
 B establishments where the promoter would cause a violation and the
 Class B license holder would then be responsible for it. He does not see a
 lot of difference between those situations and the Special Event Permit
 situation and reemphasized the need to protect the non-profit license
 holders. Mayor Chirico stated that there are many third-party companies
 who hold events in Naperville (e.g. the Naperville Women’s Triathlon), but if
 the event does not have a Special Event Permit, they are not under the
 purview of the Liquor Commission.

 Commissioners discussed the possibility of adding a legal rider to the
 Special Event Permit application that makes the third-party company
 responsible for violations, rather than the non-profit, and gathering more
 information from the non-profits who have partnered with third-party
 companies to see what they were paid. Barfuss reported on inquiries she
 made. Festa Italiana 2019 made a $2,500 donation to the Naperville
 Jaycees for being their non-profit license holder; Festa Italiana 2021 made
 a $2,500 contribution to the Naperville Humane Society, as well as $3,900
 donation as a portion of proceeds following the event; and the Naperville
 Summer Ale Fest made a $4,000 donation to the West Suburban Irish for
 their partnership. Lutzke stated that one suggestion would be writing a
 specific percentage of proceeds into the requirements of the Special Event
 Permit.

 Mayor Chirico asked Dawn Portner to comment on whether we are aware
 of situations where third-party promoters find a non-profit partner only in
 order to acquire a liquor license for the event. Portner affirmed that that
 was the case with Festa Italiana in 2021. They did not have a charity
 partner until we issued them a list of local non-profits; they asked if we
 could contact the partners for them and she clarified that it is not the City’s
 responsibility to do that.


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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021

 Davenport asked if third-party companies are committing liquor violations
 in addition to the perceived misuse of a local non-profit organization. Mayor
 Chirico stated that in many cases local non-profit events are fundraising
 events with organizers that are invested in being respectful to the
 community and following liquor commission rules. Event promoters,
 however, are often holding a one-time event and they are not as invested in
 caring for the community and ensuring liquor rules are followed. Wehrli
 affirmed that this was the intent of the Special Event Permit. It was for
 non-profit organizations to hold fundraising events with liquor and not for
 every private promoter to hold events in Naperville whenever they want to.

 Commissioners discussed gathering more information from the non-profits,
 continuing the requirement that the non-profit partner be located in
 Naperville, the merits of adding a percentage of proceeds requirement to
 the Special Event Permit, whether a requirement would deter event
 promoters from holding events in Naperville, and if advising the non-profit
 on the amount they should require and best practices in partnering with an
 event management company could be a less restrictive approach. Mayor
 Chirico reemphasized that this only applies to events that have liquor
 permits and stated that he supports deterring outside promoters from using
 the non-profit to their own advantage.

 Commissioner Maher made a motion to have staff gather data and bring
 recommendations for revising the Special Event Permit or the liquor commission
 rules for the next meeting, seconded by Vozar. The motion was approved and
 carried by the following vote:

 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White

E. NEW BUSINESS:

 Consider Features Bar & Grill’s request for an extension of the temporary outdoor seating
 provision
 Attachments: Cover Letter to Liquor Commission

 Lutzke reported that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the City relaxed
 outdoor seating requirements via Executive Order and allowed businesses
 to operate without a permit, extending seating areas to the public sidewalk
 and areas of the street in front of their building’s facade and beyond,if they
 received permission from the neighboring property owner. The order was
 extended via City Council action until October 1, 2021. Typically outdoor
 seating is allowed on the public way until November 1st when they must be
 removed for snow removal; temporary outdoor seating permits were
 treated in the same manner. Currently, we do not have any way for
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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021

 businesses to continue to use their permanent or temporary outdoor
 seating absent City Council action. Mayor Chirico agreed that he would like
 to address the rail car issue for Features and expand the discussion to find
 a broader solution for businesses that are currently still using their outdoor
 seating and are in violation of the code.

 Russ Whitaker, attorney for Features and member of the Downtown
 Naperville Alliance (DNA) Board, reviewed that City staff, DNA and the
 Naperville Development Partnership (NDP) developed a plan for
 redesigning storage containers as rail cars as a form of temporary outdoor
 seating. Riff Menza, owner of Features, agreed to be the pilot owner of a
 rail car set up and invested nearly $30,000 in the project to make them
 attractive, functional and appealing to patrons. That investment was not
 recouped in one season and he is requesting to be able to use the rail cars
 again this year as soon as possible. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over
 and restaurants have struggled for two years to stay in business. Mayor
 Chirico agreed that the City took these actions when occupancy limits were
 in place for restaurants. The City of Chicago lost 800 private restaurants.
 Naperville’s impact was not as severe because we took quick action to
 allow temporary outdoor seating and encouraged the rail car idea, implying
 that funding for this project could be reimbursed by CARES grant money.
 No promises were made, but it was implied. Mayor Chirico went on to say
 that he is sympathetic to the plight of restaurants and the Liquor
 Commission is an appropriate entity to support a recommendation to the
 City Council.

 Commissioners clarified that Features is the only business with rail cars in
 public parking spaces and asked if there were liquor violations or
 significant complaints about restaurants using temporary outdoor seating
 areas. Riggs replied that there were not. Mayor Chirico and Barfuss
 concurred. Whitaker noted that DNA did receive complaints about loss of
 parking by business owners, however, the DNA Board supports Features'
 request. Maher clarified that we are only discussing the loss of 3 public
 parking spaces for the rail cars at Features. Mayor Chirico noted that
 parking options are immediately increasing following this week’s City
 Council meeting with the action to end 30-minute parking and open the top
 levels of the parking garages for permit holders. He also noted that the rail
 cars do not extend beyond the facade of Features and Club Mamalu.
 Menza confirmed that this is true.

 Commissioners discussed how allowing this for Features would impact
 other businesses, that restaurants are not under occupancy restrictions
 now but patrons still prefer to dine outdoors as a safer option, that the rail
 cars do not impact snow plowing, and whether a cap might be a
 mechanism for ensuring this action only applies to Features. Lutzke stated


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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021

 that we can tailor the proposed ordinance to allow anyone who has the rail
 cars to utilize them with a specific end date and allowable hours of
 operation. Mayor Chirico noted that Features is the only business with rail
 cars and having a cap might give City Council comfort with approving the
 request. He went on to say that there is a possibility that the City Council
 will not support this recommendation and would like to add an alternative
 that includes financial reimbursement for Features, since the business
 owner took these actions with the encouragement of the City and we have
 received CARES funds for this purpose. Menza reported that he decided
 to pilot the rail cars in hopes that others would do it and he did not know his
 investment was only for one season. He confirmed that other downtown
 businesses also had the opportunity to do this and they chose not to.




 Commissioner Wehrli made a motion to approve the petitioner's request and
 make a recommendation to City Council to allow Features to use the rail cars, or
 to provide reimbursement for Features' investment in the rail cars, seconded by
 Maher.

 Wehrli amended the motion to include a sunset date of May 1, 2022 and
 allowable hours of operation ending at 12:00 PM on weekdays and 1:00 AM on
 weekends, seconded by Maher. The motion was approved as amended and
 carried by the following vote:

 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White




 Whitaker asked that the discussion on temporary outdoor seating should
 not just focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, because expanded outdoor
 seating would continue to help businesses during upcoming construction
 projects in the downtown. Mayor Chirico reported that there are existing
 businesses in violation of the outdoor seating expiration and highlighted
 The Lantern, Allegory and Fiamme as examples. He went on to explain that
 in Fiamme’s case, they have an outdoor seating permit for their private
 property, however, they would now have to pay back a credit they received
 on the downtown SSA for use of their private parking lot as outdoor dining.
 Outside of downtown there are also businesses that are still doing
 temporary outdoor seating on private property. He would like Liquor
 Commission to consider an action that would require City Council
 approval, and allow businesses to continue to use public and private
 property for temporary outdoor seating, at no cost to the business. They
 would have to abide by the outdoor dining rules that were required before
 COVID including leaving a walkway and putting up barrier fencing, but they
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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021

 would be able to use some public spaces and private property for
 temporary outdoor dining.

 Commissioners discussed the need to continue supporting restaurants,
 that many patrons still prefer to dine outdoors, that there were not
 complaints or violations while the temporary outdoor seating was allowed
 and that restaurants would have to ensure they do not impede snow
 removal efforts. Commissioners asked if tents and heating elements would
 continue to be allowed. Mayor Chirico replied that tents would not be
 allowed, however, the igloos and private dining containers on private
 property would be allowed. Lutzke reported that all temporary outdoor
 seating areas did need to be inspected by the City and heating elements
 were inspected by TED and the Fire Department.

 Commissioner Maher made a motion to recommend to City Council an extension
 of the temporary outdoor seating provisions until May 1, 2022, seconded by
 Davenport.

 Maher amended the motion to include that temporary outdoor seating areas
 would have to go through an inspection process requiring city review and
 approval, seconded by Davenport. The motion was approved as amended and
 carried by the following vote:

 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White

F. REPORTS:

 Approve the regular Liquor Commission meeting minutes of October 7, 2021
 Attachments: Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes DRAFT 100721

 Commissioner Maher made a motion to approve the regular Liquor Commission
 meeting minutes of October 7, 2021, seconded by Koranda. The motion was
 approved and carried by the following vote:

 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White


 Approve the regular Liquor Commission meeting dates for 2022
 Attachments: Liquor Commission Meeting Dates 2022

 Commissioner Maher made a motion to approve the regular Liquor Commission
 meeting dates for 2022, seconded by Davenport. The motion was approved and
 carried by the following vote:

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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021


 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White

 1. Restaurant Association Report - Jeffries

 None

 2. BASSET- Employee Training Statistics - Riggs

 Riggs reported that we are continuing to do the online course. He would
 like approval to hold the in-person course again and needs to train 150
 Costco employees. The Mayor suggested doing the training on-site at
 Costco rather than in Council Chambers.


 3. Tobacco Enforcement Review - Riggs

 Riggs reported on the new tobacco grant year. He has distributed
 education kits to all tobacco license holders and compliance checks will be
 done by the end of the year. Mayor Chirico asked about tobacco retailers
 selling CBD products and vapes for CBD use and asked if minors are
 allowed to purchase these items. Lutzke stated she believes we are 21+
 for CBD in Naperville. Riggs will add CBD to the compliance checks.


 4. Liquor Report - Riggs

 Riggs reported that there were 14 DUIs in October 2021, compared to 10
 in October 2020 and 20 in October 2019. Mayor Chirico noted that there
 were more Naperville residents cited than the previous month.


 5. Liquor Concept Committee Update - Barfuss

 Barfuss reported that since the last Liquor Commission Meeting, the Liquor
 Concept Committee had one meeting on October 21st. The following
 concepts were discussed:

 Friaco’s, located at 940 S. Route 59
 New business seeking a Class B - Restaurant & Tavern license. Their
 request is approved and their application is in process.

 Inchin’s Bamboo Garden, located 618 S. Route 59, Suite 112
 New business seeking a Class B - Restaurant & Tavern license. Their
 request is approved and their application is in process.



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Liquor Commission Meeting Minutes - Final November 4, 2021

 Pizza Twist, located at 936 S. Route 59, Unit 104
 New business seeking a Class A - Restaurant license. Their request is
 approved and their application is in process.

 Bev’s, located at 245 S. Washington St., the Jimmy’s Grill location
 New business seeking a Class B - Restaurant & Tavern license with a late
 night permit and outdoor seating permit. Their request is approved and
 their application is process.

 Cheap Cheap Liquors, locating at 88 W. Gartner Rd. #104 and 1274
 E. Chicago Ave, the Peterson’s Wine locations
 New business seeking Class D - Package Store licenses. Their request
 needs further review and the status is pending.

 Miskatonic Brewing Wursthall, located at 47 E. Chicago Ave. Suite
 120
 New business seeking a Class B - Restaurant & Tavern license with late
 night permit. Their request is approved, and their application is in process.


G. EXECUTIVE SESSION:

 None

H. ADJOURNMENT:
 Commissioner Vozar made a motion to adjourn the Liquor Commission meeting
 of November 4, 2021 at 4:36 PM, seconded by Davenport. The motion was
 approved and carried by the following vote:

 Aye: 6- Davenport, Koranda, Maher, Signorella, Vozar, and Wehrli

 Excused: 1- Mayor Chirico

 Absent: 3- Charvat, Stauffer, and White




 /S/ Miranda Barfuss
 Miranda Barfuss
 Assistant to City Council




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