PLYMOUTH, Mich. (WXYZ) — More could be on the rocks in Plymouth. The city is looking into whether to lift or expand the Liquor License Cap and allow more businesses to sell alcohol as a part of their annual review of establishments.
"We have a very vibrant community, but part of that is based on the expectations of the community itself, our residents, our existing businesses, the city, and again, our licensee holders. So that's the important partnership that we continue to have and we continue to focus on," City Manager Paul Sincock said.
Hear more from Paul Sincock in the video player below:
Currently, the city has a cap of not more than 12 state standalone liquor licenses within the B-1, B-3 and arc zoning districts, and 18 in the B-1 downtown zone for a total of 30, and none are available.
The city commission uses the number as a guideline for recommending license applications for approval with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, which is the ultimate decider on issuing, renewing and revoking.
The administration is currently preparing language to amend the ordinance to expand the cap to four. But Sincock says it's in the early phases with several steps left to go.
"I think the city commission, after discussion and significant public input, talked about maybe raising it three to four. And so they'll be talking about that at some point in the future, probably in April, and then we will also have to notify all of the current licensees and see if they have any comments for us in advance of a public meeting with the city," Sincock said.
It's good news for Jimmy Walkup who has already started the process of trying to open a new restaurant and bar and took a shot in the dark.
"The city has raised the cap, I mean, many times in the past. I believe for the past two years straight, they have raised the cap. So, it was a bit of a gamble on our part. There's obviously no way to guarantee that there would be a liquor license, slot available for our projects," Walkup said.
He and his partners at Plymouth Hospitality LLC are looking to transform the historic train depot in Old Village into a project called The Villager, submitting a planned unit development application in March. Their plan is for The Villager to be an affordable dinner option meant for community gathering.
"Our project represents a great community benefit and especially historical value of the local neighborhood. Part of our plan is to renovate and sort of restore that train station to its post-1890s, like reconstruction architecture. So we hope that all the concepts combined of our plan would sufficiently appeal to the city to grant us one of the liquor license slots," Walkup said.
Matt Zandee, who lives nearby, is in support of more businesses in the area having the same opportunity.
"We're excited about it. We know a lot of our the local business owners that would drive more business here," Zandee said.
Charlie and Theresa Eudy have lived in the area for 50 years and support the growth.
"There's new developments, new restaurants and they'd like to have liquor licenses and it'd help their business," Charlie Eudy said.
But for Laura Sommerville, who's lived in Plymouth for decades, it's not ideal.
"We don't need any more. We have enough bars, restaurants, specialty places to eat and drink and I think we have enough. This is supposed to be a family-oriented community and definitely think there's enough liquor to go around for those looking for it," Sommerville said.
While the state awards the licenses, city law requires the limited places in town that serve alcohol to also have food. Sincock says that's working.
"We've got a great partnership between the city, the community and the licensees, and with that great partnership, we've been able to bring on additional establishments through the course of time and that has been really good. And everybody understands the expectations, the licensees understand the expectations of the city, the city understands the expectations of our community, and so that's why we do this on a regular basis," Sincock said.
The next meeting this could be discussed is April 7. The language and specific details would have to be sent to current license holders prior to public discussion.
