At its meeting on Dec. 9, 2024, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved an ordinance extending a moratorium limiting the number of class B (bar) liquor licenses and the issuance of any new class B liquor licenses until May 1, 2027.
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ROCHELLE — At its meeting on Dec. 9, 2024, the Rochelle City Council unanimously approved an ordinance extending a moratorium limiting the number of class B (bar) liquor licenses and the issuance of any new class B liquor licenses until May 1, 2027.
The moratorium was originally approved in January 2022 to address concerns over an increase seen in video gaming machines in city limits. The moratorium sought to control the expansion of gaming establishments tied to class B licenses. The city cannot control whether a class B licensee can get a gaming license, but it can control the number of class B liquor licenses in the city, which is a prerequisite to apply for a gaming license.
“This is the second extension approval from the original,” City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said Jan. 17. “Originally, the council shared some concerns about the number of gaming units that were in the community and reaching a saturation point. The council wanted to limit the number of gaming machines. It was determined by our legal team that the best way to do that would be limiting the number of class B (bar) liquor licenses. Every two years we bring it back to them and ask if they want to extend it. To date, they've voted unanimously every time to extend the moratorium. It's about controlling the number of gaming machines in the community and ensuring that we don't oversaturate our town with gaming. We're happy with it and we believe it's served its purpose.”
The moratorium does not impact current class B liquor license holders, who will remain exempt from the restriction. However, should a class B license be revoked, relinquished, or otherwise vacated, the total number of active class B licenses within the city will remain capped at 10. The ordinance specifically pertains to class B liquor licenses and does not impose any restrictions on the issuance or regulation of other types of liquor licenses, such as those for restaurants, hotels, or other venues.
City Clerk Rose Hueramo said Jan. 17 that the city gets inquiries about the availability of class B liquor licenses on a daily basis. Those inquirers often specifically ask about gaming, not details on bar or restaurant requirements.
Hueramo and Fiegenschuh believe that if not for the moratorium, the city would have more bars and gaming parlors in it.
“You have to be deliberative,” Fiegenschuh said. “If you allow one person to have a bar license and you don't allow another, you better have a really good reason for that. You can't be discriminatory. We have to treat everybody fairly. In speaking with legal counsel, they said the best way to deal with the issue would be putting a moratorium on class B licenses and addressing it every few years. Putting a moratorium on it ensures everyone is treated fairly. Based on how many requests Rose gets on a weekly basis, we'd probably have more bars and I know we'd have more gaming parlors in town if we didn't put this moratorium in place.”
The city uses its share of gaming revenues to pay into its fire and police pension funds. Each month, half of the revenue goes into each fund. Fiegenschuh said the gaming revenue is “fairly consistent”, which is why the city believes the community is saturated with gaming and adding more machines would not increase revenue.
The city chose not to use gaming revenues to fund its general operations so it isn’t reliant on them in case they go away. Fiegenschuh believes the revenues have been beneficial to the city due to their help with police and fire pensions.
“We're less reliant on property taxes to do that,” Fiegenschuh said. “It's been good in that respect. But in my opinion, more gaming isn't necessary. There are societal effects due to gaming. But I think it's been beneficial to our local businesses and we have nonprofits that use it like the VFW and the Moose. Another reason the moratorium was put in place was to protect our current license holders so we didn't have that potential for saturation. I think it's important as a city that we support the businesses that we have.”
Hueramo and Fiegenschuh said that if current conditions continue, every two years they will recommend to the city council that the moratorium be extended.
“We have vendors that call specifically asking if the moratorium has been lifted,” Hueramo said. “They know that we have one in place. Their number-one goal is to install as many gaming terminals as they can.”