[Vision2020] What Makes Moscow Business-Unfriendly?

[Saundra Lund]

23 Sept. 2008

Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Moscow church objects to alcohol at nearby cafe License up for renewal in
January, council to take up issue at Oct. 6 meeting
By Tara Roberts, Daily News staff writer

The CROSSing Pastor John Houser doesn't think Cafe Silos should be allowed
to sell beer and wine because of its proximity to the church.

Houser and several members of the Moscow church's congregation attended the
City Council's Administrative Committee meeting Monday to express their
displeasure with the nearby cafe's ability to sell alcoholic beverages.

Beer and wine licenses are not normally allowed within 300 feet of a church,
but the council waived the requirement for Cafe Silos in May 2007. The
CROSSing moved into a Travois Way location that is next door to Cafe Silos
in March. 

The council reviewed the decision in October when Pastor Rick Parsons of the
Impact Church, which occupied the Travois Way building at the time, objected
to the license. The council unanimously decided to uphold its decision, but
agreed to review the license down the road.

The license will be up for renewal again in January, and The CROSSing
members said they wanted to make their voices heard before then.

"We're just asking that the law is presented for a reason ... and we're
asking that that law be reviewed," Houser said. "We would like to see that
law held up with the 300-foot distance."

The CROSSing member Larry Todd argued that the beer and wine license
shouldn't be allowed near a church or in a predominantly residential
neighborhood. He said he's concerned about the potential mix of "alcohol,
cars and kids." Part of Cafe Silos' parking is near The CROSSing's
playground.

"Anybody drinking their nice, smooth merlot, when they're done, 50 percent
of them have the potential of having to walk past that playground, get in
their car, and drive past that playground and leave," Todd said.

The CROSSing submitted several letters asking the council to revoke the
license and a petition with about 50 signatures of people opposed to the
license.

Attorney Jack Porter spoke on behalf of Cafe Silos owners Ray and Brenda von
Wandruszka and Rob Davis.

He said he felt some of The CROSSing members were misinformed, believing
that the license is illegal. The license is legal because the council waived
the requirement prohibiting beer and wine near churches.

Porter also said Cafe Silos is "not the Beach or CJ's" and has never had
alcohol-related crime problems.

"I find it offensive that they think they can move into a neighborhood where
there's already an established, legal business conducting itself in a quiet,
inoffensive way, and say, 'We don't like alcohol so you have to stop serving
it,' " Porter said.

The committee decided to send the issue to the full City Council for
discussion at its Oct. 6 meeting. Committee members and Councilmen Bill
Lambert and Tom Lamar said they are inclined to uphold the license.

Lamar, who lives near Cafe Silos, said he's never seen any sort of unruly
behavior by people drinking at the cafe. He added that just because The
CROSSing members complained doesn't mean the council has to revoke the
license.

"The beer and wine license has already been issued, certainly for us to
review again," he said. "But I don't see the neighbors or (Cafe Silos)
trying to get the church to change what it's preaching."

Houser said after the meeting that he felt the committee members were asking
the church not to push its beliefs on the cafe, but "forcing the business'
agenda on the church."

Houser said he and church members will attend the council meeting and speak
again.

Church member Aleta Sonnenberg said she's worried that the council's
decision to uphold the license will start a chain reaction of other licenses
being issued near churches and schools and in residential neighborhoods.

"It's not just the church, it's the precedent it sets," she said.

QUICKREAD

WHAT HAPPENED: Members of The CROSSing church asked the Moscow City
Council's Administrative Committee to consider revoking Cafe Silo's beer and
wine license because the cafe is near the church.

n WHAT IT MEANS: The license is up for renewal in January. The council can
decide not to waive a legal requirement that prohibits alcohol licenses
within 300 feet of churches.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The full council will discuss the issue Oct. 6.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The CROSSing members say allowing beer and wine near
the church endangers children and could cause crime. An attorney for Cafe
Silos said it's unfair for the church to push its beliefs on the cafe and
its patrons.

Tara Roberts can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail at
troberts at dnews.com.