[Neighbors] Councilor Davis's Email on Nob Hill Alcohol Waiver

Tue Oct 4 15:54:52 MDT 2016

Good afternoon everyone – I hope it’s OK if I jump into the conversation with some clarifications.

First, an establishment with a “dispenser license transferred from another local option district” (as referenced in this draft ordinance) would be limited only to on-premise sales – package sales are not permitted with this particular type of license under state regulations. Such an establishment would, however, be permitted to sell alcohol for on-premise consumption without food service. The Alcoholic Liquor section of the Code of Ordinances (§13-2<http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/New%20Mexico/albuqwin/chapter13businessandoccupations?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:albuquerque_nm_mc$anc=JD_Chapter13Article2>) references different types of alcohol establishments by state license type, so the reference to “dispenser license transferred from another local option district” is proposed here in keeping with that convention.

Second, readers are correct that permission from a nearby church or school is not a requirement for receiving the waiver. However, the Liquor Hearing Officer is required to notify nearby schools and churches of the upcoming hearing. If the church or school decided to weigh in either in support or opposition of the waiver request, the Hearing Officer would take this position into account when considering whether to grant the waiver. The existing requirement that the Hearing Officer notify stakeholders is in section E of the waiver section of the Alcoholic Liquor Ordinance (§13-2-4, which you can read by clicking here<http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/New%20Mexico/albuqwin/chapter13businessandoccupations?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:albuquerque_nm_mc$anc=JD_13-2-4>).

What is being proposed here is an amendment to an existing ordinance that already allows waivers to be granted for similar licenses Downtown, and city-wide for beer and wine licenses. The only change this would make to the waiver ordinance would be this addition of the Nob Hill area.

Finally, just so it is clear, the Council delegates authority to the Liquor Hearing Officer for such decisions, and councilors themselves would not consider waiver requests.

Thanks,
Andrew

Andrew Webb
Policy Analyst/Planning
Albuquerque City Council
505-768-3161

From: Susan Michie-Maitlen [mailto:sgm150 at ymail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 1:01 PM
To: TheBoard NobHill-NM; Beverly Hill; Foran, Sean M.; Morris Chavez; Webb, Andrew; Carolyn Chavez; Nancy Bearce; Renz-Whitmore, Mikaela J.; Robert Munro; Chris Smith; Cohen Rufus; Stephen Paternoster
Cc: Nob Hill
Subject: Fw: Councilor Davis's Email on Nob Hill Alcohol Waiver

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Please recall Councilor Davis's email below. It appears that he was fully aware that "permission of nearby churches" was important to the language in this ordinance for the NHNA board members. That is the impression that I got at every board meeting I attended in which the topic was discussed, and most likely the reason why it was not rejected from the beginning.

I have no idea why the "required permission clause" was not included in the current draft of the ordinance that the attorney's proposed to the NHNA and it appears that the NHNA board members had every reason to believe that it was. It is concerning that intelligent people on the board did not actually read the ordinance or were not able to understand it, before they posted misinformation on our social media.

That being said, I was opposed to the ordinance from the beginning with or without the permission clause and I remain so, for the following reasons (based on the many discussions I have now heard on both sides of the issue) : 1) I do not believe the law should be changed at the request of a single business group in a single industry; and 2) I honestly do not believe the NHNA board has the business expertise to make this decision, because without thorough research into the unique economic factors that make up the Nob Hill business mix, we have no way of knowing if passing this ordinance will benefit our commercial district or the community as a whole.  Nob Hill Main Street is working to get that expertise as we speak, and I think we should wait until they get some results before we change our laws based on nothing but the speculations of people who feel they have a stake in the outcome.

Cheers!

Susan Michie, Ph.D
Nob Hill Resident and Property Owner
Professor of Strategic Business Management (Ret.)

Past Chair of the Nob Hill Main Street Economic Development Committee
Past President of the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association
Regular Patron of the Nob Hill Entertainment District

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Davis, Pat via Neighbors_nobhill-nm" <neighbors_nobhill-nm at mailman.swcp.com<mailto:neighbors_nobhill-nm at mailman.swcp.com>>
To: ronhalbgewachs <ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com<mailto:ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com>>; NobHill BOD <theboard at nobhill-nm.com<mailto:theboard at nobhill-nm.com>>; NobHill Neighbors <neighbors at nobhill-nm.com<mailto:neighbors at nobhill-nm.com>>
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2016 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: [Neighbors] Nob Hill Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Agenda

Ron, Thanks for including me in these notes.

I appreciate you including me on the agenda, but I want to be clear that I am not supporting this change or taking a position on this at this time.

Earlier this year, a restaurant ownership group asked me to sponsor a change to the Nob Hill - Highland Sector plan that would permit liquor license applicants to apply for licenses if they could obtain permission of nearby churches (currently, there is a blanket prohibition on licenses near religious institutions).

Instead of sponsoring that change outright, I had our staff create draft language.  I agreed to sponsor the change only if the neighborhood associations impacted by the change endorsed the change.

It is my understanding that the restaurant group has been working with the neighborhood association to address their concerns and the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association Board is scheduled to take up this matter at tonight’s meeting.

Please let me know how it goes so we can consider whether to file the change or whether the association opposes it.

Thanks, Pat

From: ronhalbgewachs <ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com<mailto:ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com>>
Reply-To: ronhalbgewachs <ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com<mailto:ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com>>
Date: Monday, September 12, 2016 at 12:16 AM
To: NobHill BOD <theboard at nobhill-nm.com<mailto:theboard at nobhill-nm.com>>, NobHill Neighbors <neighbors at nobhill-nm.com<mailto:neighbors at nobhill-nm.com>>
Cc: Ron Halbgewachs <ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com<mailto:ronhalbgewachs at peoplepc.com>>, Patrick Davis <patdavis at cabq.gov<mailto:patdavis at cabq.gov>>, "Foran, Sean M." <seanforan at cabq.gov<mailto:seanforan at cabq.gov>>, Morris Chavez <mo at saucedochavez.com<mailto:mo at saucedochavez.com>>
Subject: Nob Hill Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Agenda

Please see the attached agenda for the next meeting of the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association Board of Directors meeting at Monte Vista Christian Church, 3501 Campus Blvd NE.

Ron Halbgewachs
President, Nob Hill Neighborhood Association

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