Mayor Lightfoot Proposes Compromise Of Cutting Off Retail Liquor Sales In Chicago At Midnight, Rather Than Earlier Plan For 10 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday proposed a midnight curfew on retail liquor sales, as a compromise two hours later than her earlier proposal for a 10 p.m. cutoff.
The Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection said the compromise will be introduced to the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Thursday as part of the Chi Biz Strong Initiative.
On May 26, the mayor proposed a permanent 10 p.m. cutoff for alcohol sales at liquor stores, grocery stores, and convenience stores. Those businesses faced a 9 p.m. cutoff during the pandemic until Lightfoot moved back that curfew to 11 p.m. last fall. Previously, stores with packaged goods licenses had been allowed to sell most types of alcohol until 2 or 3 a.m.
This goes for all alcohol – liquor, beer, or wine. It does not apply to restaurants or bars.
Chicagoans got their first taste of a liquor curfew with that 9 p.m. cutoff time during the start-time of the pandemic.
The compromise to move the permanent cutoff time to midnight followed talks with aldermen, business owners, and community leaders, the news release said.
The reasoning has to do with "nuisance issues" that go along with late-night liquor sales.
"In order to truly recover from this pandemic, we must listen to the voices of the community and learn from the lessons of this past year to build back stronger than ever," Mayor Lightfoot said in the release. "This initiative has focused from the beginning on addressing what is not working with business as usual, based on what we have heard from community members, business leaders and workers – and we appreciate the continued dialogue we have had the past few weeks. We believe a midnight closure is a reasonable compromise that addresses the serious nuisance issues raised by late-night liquor sales without unduly burdening our business community, and I continue to look forward to working with all stakeholders to make our city as safe and vibrant as possible."
Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), chairwoman on the City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection, concurred with the complaint about late-night liquor sales causing problems.
"Late-night alcohol sales have long posed a problem in the 37th Ward and throughout the City, and I thank Mayor Lightfoot for listening to the community and taking the initiative to address this problem," Mitts said in the release. "It is important that come together to find a reasonable compromise, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this necessary legislation that strikes the right balance between our businesses and our communities."
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) also called the midnight cutoff a worthy compromise.
"As we enter Phase 5, businesses and communities throughout the city are facing a pivotal moment," Tunney said in the release. "The midnight liquor curfew is a good compromise between the needs of businesses that are working to recover from the pandemic and the needs of residents that face quality of life issues in their neighborhoods."
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) used a parliamentary maneuver to shuttle the earlier 10 p.m. cutoff proposal, along with much of the mayor's business relief measures, to the City Council Rules Committee when Lightfoot introduced them to the City Council at the Wednesday, May 21 meeting. Lopez's move served essentially to push back potential approval of the ordinances by a month.
According to published reports, Lopez said he was concerned that the mayor's package includes lots of items people weren't aware of before she introduced her plan to the City Council, and his maneuver would give aldermen more time to review it.
Lightfoot called Lopez's explanation "nonsense," saying her package was based more than 100 meetings with various business groups, community groups, and aldermen.
