By Lori Carlson, Editor 

Making way for a “big-box” liquor retailer to take over a strip mall on Commerce Avenue, a divided Prior Lake City Council approved MGM Wine and Spirits’ request for a liquor license on Monday.

The council voted 3-2, with Councilmen Ken Hedberg and Steve Millar dissenting, to issue the off-sale liquor license. Hedberg and Millar wanted more study of the city’s ordinance as well as a definition of “school,” because the MGM site is 145 feet from Kids Count daycare.

Bryce Huemoeller, an attorney for Kevin Bresnahan – owner of Dakota Liquors, just down the street from the MGM site – said the city should recognize Kids Count as a school. The city’s ordinance bans liquor-related businesses within 300 feet of any church or school.

Huemoeller said the city’s ordinance doesn’t define the term “school.”

Millar agreed that Kids Count’s education component qualifies it as a school, while Councilman Warren Erickson said he views a daycare as “very different” from a school.

Both Hedberg and Millar said they believe the city should take a closer look at its liquor ordinance, which Millar called “tangled.”

Mayor Jack Haugen said other businesses with liquor licenses have operated within 300 feet of daycare centers, including the PDQ store which once occupied the site across the street from Kids Count daycare.

“There was never a question from [Kids Count] about PDQ, which had a 3.2 license,” Haugen said.

Huemoeller maintained the city should view daycares and schools in the same way.

“Why don’t we want the same protection for kids who attend these kinds of places and those who attend what is commonly construed as a school?” Huemoeller asked.

Bresnahan, his attorney and Millar also cited “small-town values” as a reason for the council to deny the license. Bresnahan, an independent business owner, has operated Dakota Liquors for the last 26 years and said recently that he’s concerned about getting shut out by MGM.

But Councilman Chad LeMair said the issue before the council was simply whether there was a reason to reject the request for a liquor license.

“I feel like if you vote one way, you’re going to be seen as not for small-town values or not protecting the kids,” LeMair said. “This is about whether we have a reason to deny this license.”

“I have a problem with changing the direction of an ordinance when there’s an application in front of us,” Haugen added.

Huemoeller also said the city should deny the liquor license because an MGM store in Minnetonka was fined in 2006 for selling alcohol to a minor. But council members – and Police Chief Bill O’Rourke – said there was no criminal conviction against MGM. The corporation was fined, and the clerk who sold the liquor was charged with a crime. Even if the violation had occurred in Prior Lake, it would not have been considered grounds to deny or revoke a liquor license, said City Manager Frank Boyles. The city ordinance requires license revocation only on the fourth violation in three years.

Though City Attorney Suesan Pace said the city’s liquor ordinance is “pretty much parallel to state statute,” the council agreed to have city staff take a closer look at the ordinance for possible clarifications that could impact future applications.

 Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.