Bid for bar gets negative nod
The city should not issue a liquor license for a downtown location that has had several taverns in recent years, according to the Janesville Alcohol License Advisory Committee.
The committee voted 3-1 on Tuesday to recommend the city council not issue a liquor license at 18-24 S. River St. The council takes up the question Monday night.
Mary McIntyre wants to open Club Haven in the space that has been the site of several bars in recent years. Several others started the process of getting liquor licenses for the location but did not finish.
McIntyre said she operated the bar and was paying the bills for several months for the former owner of Off the Wagon, which was the most recent bar at the site. That tavern closed in July.
When McIntyre applied for a liquor license this summer, the committee requested a business plan and financial records, including assurances from vendors that they were willing to sell her alcohol.
McIntyre at the next meeting presented a business plan, saying the establishment would cater to the gay community. The committee again asked for financial records.
McIntyre said Tuesday that she said could not provide the information because other members of her limited liability corporation did not want to provide it. She said the original application did not include a space for financial information, and she said she has seen other people get licenses without the scrutiny she has received.
"I'm done with the game," she said.
She expected committee members would ask for something else if she produced the requested financial information, she said.
"As far as my financial status, it's none of your business. I was making it work, I was paying the liquor distributors, I was paying (the landlord).
"All I wanted to do was keep a place going and enjoy the company of people with heart.
"I understand this building has had issues, but they're not me," she said. "They're not Mary McIntyre."
Committee member Bill Truman said the committee wanted more information because of the frequency of requests for licenses at the River Street location.
"We weren't asking for personal information, we were asking for a business plan, mainly if they have money in the bank to pay rent, to pay distributors," Truman said.
Matthew Schreier was the only vote in favor of recommending a liquor license. Voting against were Truman, Carrie Kulinski and Angela Smillie.
When asked after the meeting why the committee members should be concerned about whether a bar fails, Schreier said committee members don't want to see a tavern last for only three to four months.
Schreier said members first asked for signed statements from distributors in July, and he sat down with McIntyre to help her figure out what she needed to bring back to the committee.
"To be honest with you, I believe Club Haven would bring a good dynamic to the city," he said, adding that the place was doing well as Off the Wagon.
Now, the building will remain empty.
"Perhaps something else could looked at to take up residency in that building," Schreier said.
