Alderman Boyd’s revised liquor moratorium for expanded ward wins committee support

Alderman Boyd, a member of the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen, told the Public Safety Committee that Board Bill 52 would replace a blanket moratorium in an expanded ward with a narrower, corridor-focused moratorium meant to protect residential areas while allowing restaurants and other commercial uses to operate.

The change matters because ward boundary changes left parts of the ward where a blanket moratorium would have blocked new businesses from opening, Boyd said. "We're just trying to bring business into our ward," Boyd said, adding that a blanket moratorium "was going to stop new businesses from coming in, especially restaurants." He said excise staff helped restructure the moratorium to target main commercial corridors rather than residential streets.

Committee members asked for specifics and were told the moratorium would apply to main corridors — the presenter listed Hall Street, Broadway, Natural Bridge, Martin Luther King and Goodfellas as examples — and would exclude residential areas. Vice Chair Aldridge asked whether a sit-down restaurant seeking to serve alcohol would be permitted; Boyd replied, "Yes. That's the whole concept."

After discussion, the committee voted to move Board Bill 52 out of Public Safety with a due-pass recommendation. The committee recorded the bill as "out of public safety with a due pass recommendation"; no roll-call vote tally or ordinance number was provided in the transcript.

The transcript does not specify a date for further consideration before the full Board of Aldermen or additional ordinance language; committee members noted only that excise staff assisted in restructuring the moratorium.

Votes at the committee: Board Bill 52 was moved and seconded and recorded as sent out of committee with a due-pass recommendation. The minutes do not list individual yes/no tallies for this item.