Legislature may review iquor-license cap

| Thursday, December 28, 2006

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YANKTON (AP) — The state Legislature may be asked to consider changing the way on-sale liquor licenses are distributed to cities and counties in South Dakota.

The number of licenses a city or county may have is tied to population.

Dave Owen, president of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said some consider the issuance of liquor licenses a quality-of-life issue.

“More and more cities are finding the kind of restaurant chains they want to attract won’t come in unless they can offer a full-beverage menu,” Owen said.

Yankton City Manager Jeff Weldon said he supports getting rid of the liquor-license caps.

Popular restaurant chains like to have on-sale liquor licenses, Weldon said, although he could not say with certainty that any restaurant had decided not to locate in Yankton because of the difficulty in getting an on-sale liquor license.

“We’re still in the process of determining just how much of a push we’re going to bring forward on the issue this year,” Yvonne Taylor, executive director of the South Dakota Municipal League, said.

Her organization is in favor of giving local governments control over the issuance of liquor licenses.

Taylor said the last major attempt to lift the population caps in the Legislature was probably five years ago.

“We’ve currently got an artificial cap that’s inhibiting the kind of development we’d like to see here,” she said.

Caren Assman, executive director of the South Dakota Retail Liquor Dealers Association, said her organization

opposes any expansion of the availability of liquor licenses because licenses already in hand are valuable.

“My businesses have invested in that liquor license. To just open up the cap would be like pulling the rug out from underneath their investment,” Assman said.

Owen said he realizes the South Dakota Chamber will have members on both sides of the issue if it comes up in the Legislature, and the organization would have to see a bill before taking a stand on it.

However, Owen said, he hopes it is an issue in the new year.

“Even if you come to the conclusion you’re going to leave it the same, you need to have this conversation,” he said.