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<STRONG>Is Patty's Kitchen and Taco Time going to be next on the hit list?</STRONG><BR>
<STRONG></STRONG> <BR>
<STRONG>Ellen A. Roskovich</STRONG><BR>
<BR><BR>> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:11:45 -0700<BR>> From: sslund_2007@verizon.net<BR>> To: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> Subject: [Vision2020] What Makes Moscow Business-Unfriendly?<BR>> <BR>> 23 Sept. 2008<BR>> <BR>> Moscow-Pullman Daily News<BR>> Moscow church objects to alcohol at nearby cafe License up for renewal in<BR>> January, council to take up issue at Oct. 6 meeting<BR>> By Tara Roberts, Daily News staff writer<BR>> <BR>> The CROSSing Pastor John Houser doesn't think Cafe Silos should be allowed<BR>> to sell beer and wine because of its proximity to the church.<BR>> <BR>> Houser and several members of the Moscow church's congregation attended the<BR>> City Council's Administrative Committee meeting Monday to express their<BR>> displeasure with the nearby cafe's ability to sell alcoholic beverages.<BR>> <BR>> Beer and wine licenses are not normally allowed within 300 feet of a church,<BR>> but the council waived the requirement for Cafe Silos in May 2007. The<BR>> CROSSing moved into a Travois Way location that is next door to Cafe Silos<BR>> in March. <BR>> <BR>> The council reviewed the decision in October when Pastor Rick Parsons of the<BR>> Impact Church, which occupied the Travois Way building at the time, objected<BR>> to the license. The council unanimously decided to uphold its decision, but<BR>> agreed to review the license down the road.<BR>> <BR>> The license will be up for renewal again in January, and The CROSSing<BR>> members said they wanted to make their voices heard before then.<BR>> <BR>> "We're just asking that the law is presented for a reason ... and we're<BR>> asking that that law be reviewed," Houser said. "We would like to see that<BR>> law held up with the 300-foot distance."<BR>> <BR>> The CROSSing member Larry Todd argued that the beer and wine license<BR>> shouldn't be allowed near a church or in a predominantly residential<BR>> neighborhood. He said he's concerned about the potential mix of "alcohol,<BR>> cars and kids." Part of Cafe Silos' parking is near The CROSSing's<BR>> playground.<BR>> <BR>> "Anybody drinking their nice, smooth merlot, when they're done, 50 percent<BR>> of them have the potential of having to walk past that playground, get in<BR>> their car, and drive past that playground and leave," Todd said.<BR>> <BR>> The CROSSing submitted several letters asking the council to revoke the<BR>> license and a petition with about 50 signatures of people opposed to the<BR>> license.<BR>> <BR>> Attorney Jack Porter spoke on behalf of Cafe Silos owners Ray and Brenda von<BR>> Wandruszka and Rob Davis.<BR>> <BR>> He said he felt some of The CROSSing members were misinformed, believing<BR>> that the license is illegal. The license is legal because the council waived<BR>> the requirement prohibiting beer and wine near churches.<BR>> <BR>> Porter also said Cafe Silos is "not the Beach or CJ's" and has never had<BR>> alcohol-related crime problems.<BR>> <BR>> "I find it offensive that they think they can move into a neighborhood where<BR>> there's already an established, legal business conducting itself in a quiet,<BR>> inoffensive way, and say, 'We don't like alcohol so you have to stop serving<BR>> it,' " Porter said.<BR>> <BR>> The committee decided to send the issue to the full City Council for<BR>> discussion at its Oct. 6 meeting. Committee members and Councilmen Bill<BR>> Lambert and Tom Lamar said they are inclined to uphold the license.<BR>> <BR>> Lamar, who lives near Cafe Silos, said he's never seen any sort of unruly<BR>> behavior by people drinking at the cafe. He added that just because The<BR>> CROSSing members complained doesn't mean the council has to revoke the<BR>> license.<BR>> <BR>> "The beer and wine license has already been issued, certainly for us to<BR>> review again," he said. "But I don't see the neighbors or (Cafe Silos)<BR>> trying to get the church to change what it's preaching."<BR>> <BR>> Houser said after the meeting that he felt the committee members were asking<BR>> the church not to push its beliefs on the cafe, but "forcing the business'<BR>> agenda on the church."<BR>> <BR>> Houser said he and church members will attend the council meeting and speak<BR>> again.<BR>> <BR>> Church member Aleta Sonnenberg said she's worried that the council's<BR>> decision to uphold the license will start a chain reaction of other licenses<BR>> being issued near churches and schools and in residential neighborhoods.<BR>> <BR>> "It's not just the church, it's the precedent it sets," she said.<BR>> <BR>> QUICKREAD<BR>> <BR>> WHAT HAPPENED: Members of The CROSSing church asked the Moscow City<BR>> Council's Administrative Committee to consider revoking Cafe Silo's beer and<BR>> wine license because the cafe is near the church.<BR>> <BR>> n WHAT IT MEANS: The license is up for renewal in January. The council can<BR>> decide not to waive a legal requirement that prohibits alcohol licenses<BR>> within 300 feet of churches.<BR>> <BR>> WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: The full council will discuss the issue Oct. 6.<BR>> <BR>> WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The CROSSing members say allowing beer and wine near<BR>> the church endangers children and could cause crime. An attorney for Cafe<BR>> Silos said it's unfair for the church to push its beliefs on the cafe and<BR>> its patrons.<BR>> <BR>> Tara Roberts can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail at<BR>> troberts@dnews.com.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> =======================================================<BR>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>> http://www.fsr.net <BR>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> =======================================================<BR><BR><br /><hr />Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live. <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093185mrt/direct/01/' target='_new'>See Now</a></body>
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