December 9, 2006
BID Board Questions on the Alcohol Density Plan, with initial answers from Joel Plan, Alcohol Policy Coordinator(blue)
1) How will success of the proposed Alcohol Density Plan be measured?
In two primary ways: (1) evaluation of quantitative alcohol-related problem data (e.g., calls for service data, arrest data, complaint data, prosecutorial data); (2) evaluation of qualitative data (e.g., citizen surveys, business/property owner surveys, enforcement officer surveys).
What are the success indicators?
The most general success indicator is a reduction in the incidence of alcohol-related problems in the targeted area.
Who will measure the degree of success?
A variety of entities will be involved in the ongoing evaluation of the alcohol license density plan (including, I hope, the BID Board, BID members, and other business-oriented organizations). I envision the Madison Police Department and myself doing a significant amount of data collection and analysis.
When and at what intervals?
The collection of baseline data continues and, most aggressively, I would expect the formal analysis to occur on a quarterly basis after implementation.
2) What is the current (Dec. 2006) number of:
a) Class B combination liquor licenses issued in Madison overall: 357
b) Class B combination liquor licenses still available: 39
(There are 5 applications for new Class B Combination licenses on the December ALRC agenda, 1 of which is in Police Sector 405)
c) Class B combination liquor licenses issued (i.e,. currently held) in the targeted area (Police Sectors 403-406)?: 120
3) What is the current number of Class A Beer and Class A Liquor licensed stores in the targeted area? 9 each, 18 total liquor stores
4) Is there data on the density of unlicensed taverns (“house parties”) in the target area? (For example, enforcement records).
I have not reviewed any current data regarding unlicensed taverns ("house parties") in the targeted area.
5) What is the a) average, and b) median, capacity of Class B combination licensed establishments in the targeted area? Is the overall capacity figure of 12,000 (targeted area) still accurate?
The following is based on the licensed capacity for Class B Combination and Class B Beer/Class C Wine licensees in the targeted area. Note that capacities are not available for all establishments and that this issue is being addressed on an ongoing basis by the Building Inspection Unit. Improvements in the integrity of capacity data are also ongoing. Average and media capacities are not expected to be a valid or reliable indicator of capacity.
a) Overall known capacity of targeted area: approximately 11,400
(keeping in mind that approximately 25% of the establishments do not have a capacity listed on their license).
b) Average capacity: 175.2
b) Median capacity: 120
6) To clarify the recent volume of license activity, and net gain and loss of licensed establishments: In each of the years 1998 through 2006, what is the breakdown of license activity in the target area?
I have requested the number of licenses (by type) for each Police Sector in the targeted area for the past 16 years. It is easier to determine the number of "new" licenses over the past few years because these establishments are often still in existence.
a. How many licenses of each type were granted for locations that had not previously held a license?
Unavailable at this time. Requires a hand count of license applications and a manual search for prior licenses for each address
b. How many licenses of each type were granted for locations that previously held a license (sales of business, transfer of license holder, etc.)?
Unavailable at this time. Requires a hand count of license applications and a manual search for prior licenses for each address
c. How many licenses were effectively transferred to new locations?
Unavailable at this time. Requires a hand count of license applications
d. How many licenses of each type that were granted were modifications to existing licenses?
This would be considered an application for a Change of Licensed Premise, not a new license application.
e. How many licenses were abandoned?
Licenses are not abandoned. A license holder may surrender a license at any time, though this usually occurs by default when a renewal application is not filed with the City Clerk. The frequency of surrendered licenses would require a hand count and manual search of prior licenses.
f. What were the addresses of these various licensed establishments?
Any list of addresses related to any of the preceding questions would require a manual search.
7) The background information provided in the Sept. 20 draft of the Alcohol Density Policy states that “regularly-collected statistics are not currently available to measure the quantitative effect of alcohol-related problems on police resources.” Has there been any change since September? Are such statistics now available?
I am unaware of any regularly-collected data related to the effect of alcohol-related problems on police resources. Anecdotal information from police officers suggests that nearly all police activity between midnight and 4:00am in the downtown area is somehow related to alcohol. This is especially true on "weekend" nights (commonly considered Thursday, Friday and Saturday).
8) Demographic data* shows that 67% of residents of the target area or immediately adjacent areas (ZIP codes 53703 and 53706) are between the ages of 15–24, with median ages of 24 and 18, respectively.
In terms of the correlations presented between alcohol license density and violence/disorder, has comparable research been done or statistics collected on correlation between density of residents age 15-24 in various police sectors, and incidents of alcohol-related disorder?
I am unaware of any research related to the correlation between the density of residents age 15-24 and the density of alcohol-related disorder.
9) The data in the presentation by Nicole DeMotto entitled “Alcohol-Related Violence in Downtown Madison” is from 1998 through 2003. Are statistics and a breakdown available for alcohol-related violence and alcohol-related disorder for Sectors 403, 404, 405, and 406 during the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 to date? Also, are the primary types of incidents causing concern still the same (battery, disturbance, fight, liquor law, substantial batteries)?
I will ask Nicole DeMotto about the availability of these data. The incident types used in the "Alcohol-related Violence in Downtown Madison" report form the objective basis for evaluation of the license density plan.
10) Is basic demographic data available on those involved (offenders and victims) in the above incidents in the target area: age, gender, ZIP code of residence?
I am unaware of any basic demographic data for offenders and victims.
11)Is there data on whether those involved (offenders and victims) in the above incidents have been at licensed taverns, unlicensed taverns, or restaurants prior to the incidents?
I am unaware of any reliable current or recent data related to the location of offenders and victims prior to their alcohol-related incident. I know that "last drink" surveys have been attempted by a variety of organizations over the past years but I do not have any summary or analysis on these efforts. "Last drink" data are notoriously unreliable, especially with a population of underage individuals.
*Source: Madison Book of Business 2006, data from ESRI Business Information Solutions.
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