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Public health officials and alder push density rule for liquor licenses; committee places ordinance on file
Summary
Public health officials presented rising local harms from excessive drinking and a council member proposed expanding state distance rules to limit where new alcohol outlets can locate.
Madison — Public health officials told the Alcohol License Review Committee (ALRC) on June 18 that alcohol-related deaths, hospitalizations and crashes in Dane County have risen in recent years, and alder Aldo Vittiver urged the committee to use licensing to reduce outlet density.
Julia Olson, supervisor of the substance use prevention and harm reduction team at Public Health Madison & Dane County, presented county and city data on excessive alcohol use, crashes and alcohol-attributed deaths and said the county ranked second in Wisconsin for alcohol-attributable deaths in 2023. "We see many issues related to physical health, mental health, accidents," Olson said, summarizing long- and short-term harms the agency attributes to excessive drinking.
Alder Vittiver said the data show a need to limit concentrations of alcohol retailers near sensitive sites, and introduced a substitute ordinance that builds on a 1947 state…
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