Attempts to modify proposal fail; Kane County passes BYOB law
Concerns about the potential impact on restaurants and alcohol consumption in general threatened to derail new bring-your-own-booze regulations in Kane County on Tuesday, but a general sentiment that some rules are better than none prevailed.
The county first began its exploration of regulating BYOB at establishments in its unincorporated areas after several high-profile traffic accidents in DuPage County related to customers at a gentlemen's club with BYOB in place. Kane County took a look at its own laws and discovered there was nothing preventing the same accidents from occurring within its boundaries. In fact, the only thing stopping a patron from bringing any kind or amount of alcohol into an establishment was a stern "no" from the owner of the establishment.
The new law will now give the county a say in the matter by creating a new BYOB liquor license at a cost of $250 per year, plus training for restaurant servers. Only restaurants will be allowed to have BYOB, and patrons of legal drinking age can only bring in wine. The wine must be opened by restaurant staff and accompanied by a meal served by the restaurant. If the wine container is not finished, it can only be removed from the restaurant after staff seal the container in a tamper-proof bag. Also, all outdoor drinking areas at restaurants must now be enclosed by a fence, wall or some other barrier that prevents drinking from occurring off the premises.
Several county board members expressed a sense of unease with the wording and any unknown potential impacts of the new law. County Board Member Sylvia Leonberger abstained from the vote because she felt "really uncomfortable" with any possible imposition on businesses. Her Democratic colleague, Bonnie Kunkel, said the law induced too much regulation at a time when elected officials need to stimulate local business. Kunkel was also one of three "no" votes on the law that followed an attempt to postpone the vote so more information could be collected. The board approved the new law with a 20-3 vote plus Leonberger's abstention. Gerald Jones, the senior Democrat on the board, chastised Kunkel and other board members with concerns for not doing their advance homework on the law to get their questions answered by staff at several public meetings regarding the law.
Under the law, BYOB license applications for 2009 are due at the end of this month.