Decision Expected On Liquor Licenses

Decision expected on liquor licenses

By OWEN ESHENRODER
CITY GOVERNMENT REPORTER

A decision on the last three liquor licenses that Ann Arbor city officials can hand out in this decade is expected by Monday.

The front-runners are Afternoon Delight, 251 E. Liberty, and China Garden, 3035 Washtenaw Ave., along with two as-yet unbuilt establishments: the Tally Hall ethnic dining mall and the Bird of Paradise jazz club. Both are planned for downtown Ann Arbor. In addition, the Afghan Home Family Restaurant, which is leasing space in the Varsity House Motel at 3250 Washtenaw Ave., is not out of the running yet.

City Councilman James Blow, R-Second Ward, who chairs the committee that recommends which businesses will receive the valuable licenses, said this morning that he hopes a decision on the remaining licenses will be made in time for Monday night’s council meeting.

As a result of the 1980 federal census, Ann Arbor received five new Class C licenses (permitting the sale of alcohol by the glass for consumption on the premises), and obtained a sixth when a license held too long in escrow by the now-defunct Loma Linda restaurant was revoked by the state and reverted to the city.

Last January, council voted to award liquor licenses to Raja Rani, 400 S. Division; the Moveable Feast, 326 W. Liberty; and two Kerrytown restaurants, Tivoli and Aviva. The license for Tivoli and Aviva was actually given to the owner of Kerrytown, with the provision that the two restaurants would share it and that it could not be transferred out of Kerrytown even if one or both of the eateries should close or move.

The state will grant no additional licenses to Ann Arbor until after the 1990 census, meaning that restaurants and bars opening here in the future will have to pay up to $90,000 to purchase a license from an out-of-business license holder.

A recommendation by the three members of Blow’s committee apparently hinges on hopes that a co-licensee agreement similar to that at Kerrytown can be worked out between Tally Hall and the Bird of Paradise.

If space is available in Tally Hall to be leased by the proposed jazz club, then one license could serve both businesses. That would allow the city to award a license to Afternoon Delight -- considered nearly a cinch to receive one -- and China Garden.

The Afghan Home Family Restaurant can presently serve liquor because the Varsity House Motel has a license that it is using. But the owners of that restaurant would like a license in their own name so they could move to a new location.