When the local alcoholic beverage board meets Monday, one of the licenses being considered is a new application by Brothers’ Bar and Grill.
Located in the newly constructed building at 500 Wabash, which also houses Indiana State University students on its upper levels, the restaurant is billed as a sports bar-type restaurant. The new application is the latest Beer Wine & Liquor Riverfront permit to be sought in the downtown area
Riverfront permits are one way to encourage redevelopment in designated areas. In Vigo County, that area is along Wabash Avenue from the courthouse to Seventh Street.
Downtown Terre Haute has four active riverfront permits — at Rollie’s Pizza, The Saratoga, J. Gumbo’s and Tater & Joe’s Café.
Saratoga owner George Azar told the Tribune-Star that getting a Riverfront permit was a good move for him. The permit is cheaper that the previous three-way license that he held to sell beer, wine and liquor.
In fact, he was able to sell his previous three-way license to recoup his investment in the annual fees.
One such license is currently being advertised for sale. The owner of that license told the Tribune-Star that he hopes to get more than $35,000 for the three-way restaurant license.
The license owner has been holding it in escrow, paying an annual fee of $1,000 to retain it. But even if he gets the market value of $35,000 or more from a willing purchaser, the seller said that will not make up for the fees he has paid the state in past years to sell alcoholic beverages.
The state Alcoholic Beverage Commission sets quotas, based on population, for how many one-way, two-way, and three-way licenses may be issued in a community or county. There is no quota for the Riverfront license, as long as the business meets the requirements set out by state law.
Indiana has more than 90 different alcoholic beverage licenses, and each has its own rules and regulations.
And, in Indiana, the rules to sell a case of beer or a bottle of wine, or whiskey, or other spirits varies between package liquor stores, convenience stores, grocery stores, drug stores and big-box retailers.
Package liquor store licenses are determined by an area’s population. As an area grows, so does the number of liquor store licenses, and the state conducts auctions for those coveted licenses.
It is the job of the local alcoholic beverage board to review the applications submitted to the state and to approve or reject the application.
“Our primary task,” said board member Jeff Lind, “is to make sure those with liquor permits are conducting business responsibly, such as not selling to minors and being responsible for protecting minors from exposure to alcohol.”
If an applicant has a history of crimes of dishonesty, that could lead the board to recommend that the state deny the permit. A license also cannot be issued for a location within 150 feet of a church or a school.
The fees for the permits are not cheap. $1,000 for a three-way license to sell beer, wine and liquor, and $750 for a two-way license to sell beer and wine only.
And if an area has reached its license quota, the state ABC can auction off permits to the highest bidder, generating more revenue for the state.
An online search of alcohol licenses issued in Vigo County — go to www.in.gov/arc — shows that the majority of active licenses are for restaurants and retailers such as groceries and convenience stores. Several drug stores and fraternal clubs also hold permits. Package stores account for 19 active permits.
Among the pending applications submitted to the state are two catering licenses, a small brewery, a convenience store beer license and three restaurants.