Liquor Licenses

Do you think Wyoming needs to loosen up the restrictions on liquor license allocations?

Is it an argument about the free market versus government regulation? Or is alcohol in a separate category from other products, one that mandates more governmental oversight?

The proposal would change the population formula establishing how many permits can be issued in incorporated cities or towns of a certain size.

Liquor association director Mike Moser says that means licenses can effectively be parked for decades.

The mayor of Wyoming's largest city says he thinks the state needs to take a hard look at the laws governing the allocation of liquor licenses across Wyoming.

Two new establishments were chosen as the recipients of retail liquor licenses by the Laramie City Council at their regular meeting on Tuesday night. The council voted 5-3 to award a license to Fox Hole Enterprises, LLC and 7-1 to award the second available license to The Crowbar and Grill, LLC.

Public hearings were held for the six retail liquor license applicants vying for one of the two new permits available in Laramie at a work session for the Laramie city council on Tuesday night.

Over the past few months we have been covering the City Council meetingsas they have been trying to figure out if they will issue the new liquor licences allotted to the city by the 2010 Census. The council's meeting a few weeks ago was particularilly interesting and frustrating for some people, especially those already established or new businesses who have been waiting to see whether or not they will receive one of the new licenses.

The Laramie City Council voted to postpone consideration of the new liquor license proposals until their regular meeting on Feb. 7th after the motion to offer two retail permits failed. Nine parties made pre-application proposals in November and this is the second time the city council has decided to postpone a decision about awarding the two new liquor licenses Laramie has to offer as a result of the 2010 census.

Two more retail liquor licenses are available to the City of Laramie and interested parties have started to make their case. Laramie received the licenses because of its increased population in the 2010 census. The city council could award the licenses to any of the eight parties who expressed interest during Tuesday’s work session.