Last week we editorialized against the City of Alton’s attempt to pass an ordinance that would require private clubs to obtain a liquor license. I opined that a new ordinance did not seem necessary to control a small number of private clubs in a city of thirty thousand residents.

The proposed ordinance would affect private clubs that serve alcohol to members or guests, and it seemed to me that the ordinance must be much ado about nothing. A couple of buddies playing cards and sharing a case of beer, or a group of ladies having wine with a monthly luncheon shouldn’t require a liquor license.

In my way of thinking, a “private club” was a bunch of like-minded individuals that share a common interest, be it fishing, antique cars, quilting or yes, motorcycles. If they pool their funds and rent a storefront to hold their meetings (rather than meeting at someone’s home), that’s fine by me. If everybody wants to chip in and buy a pony keg for after the meeting, there are DUI laws in place if they over imbibe.

I still feel that way.

However, we have heard from more than a few readers that brought to my attention a much larger concern in Alton. Apparently there are some in town that want to form a “private club” in order to skirt state and local liquor ordinances. The idea is to form a “private club” to restrict entrance and sell or supply alcohol without having the necessary licenses and insurance required by state law. I don’t agree with that.

So, at the risk of contradicting my own editorial, I guess we need a new definition for the term “private club”. If the “club” is really a front for a private tavern, it needs to have the same licenses and insurance as any other tavern.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.