Arlington Hts. hears residents on single-serving liquor ban

Kristen Padavic told the Arlington Heights village board Monday she hopes proposed limitations on the sale of single servings of alcohol in retail stores help fix "the one overarching black mark on this town"- problems with homeless people and public intoxication.

Padavic, who lives with her husband and two-year-old twins in the 300 block of North Dryden Place near downtown Arlington Heights, said during Monday's meeting that incidents in the three years she has lived in the village include three "very drunk" people fighting in her front yard; a drunken homeless man falling on the railroad tracks and dying and a woman - whom Padavic has reported to police several times - drinking in the stairwell of the train station parking lot.

Arlington Heights police have made great strides in combating these problems, especially in the area of the train station and the library, she said. But still, she said, she sees people drinking on park benches or while lying in the grass. People who chronically abuse alcohol and appear to be mentally ill are dangerous, Padavic said.

Responsible citizens do not frequently purchase airline-size bottles of liquor or refrigerated single cans or bottles of beer, she maintained.

These will be outlawed under the ordinance that the Village Board endorsed Monday. The board is expected to vote officially on the issue at its Oct. 19 meeting, and the provisions governing beer sales would go into effect Jan. 1, those referring to wine and other alcohol on March 1.

Tom Morgan said his neighbors in a condominium community on the first block of South Evergreen Avenue support the new ordinance.

And Barbara Weintraub, director of the emergency department of Northwest Community Hospital, said if national statistics are extrapolated to the hospital, alcohol-related visits cost $26 million a year, not to mention the human cost.

Jerry Rosen, executive director of the Beverage Retailers Alliance of Illinois, said Arlington Heights has many more liquor licenses per resident than other area towns, and he suggested the village should consider how difficult that is for businesses when new licenses are requested in the future.

Mayor Arlene Mulder said the liquor license issue will probably be discussed in the future.