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Committee backs one‑year moratorium on new packaged‑liquor stores in House District 3
Summary
The committee reported House Bill 481 favorably; the bill would impose a temporary moratorium (Aug. 1, 2025–Dec. 30, 2026) on new packaged‑liquor permits inside House District 3 to give local authorities time to reconcile Metropolitan Planning Commission and city council procedures after constituent complaints.
House Bill 481, introduced by Representative Phelps, was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary B Committee after the sponsor described it as a narrow, time‑limited moratorium on new packaged‑liquor stores in House District 3.
Phelps said community members raised concerns that a recent store opened without input from the city council because siting authority fell to the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC). The bill would create a moratorium from Aug. 1, 2025, through Dec. 30, 2026, in the specified legislative district to allow the council and MPC to “work with the MPC and restructure both of their separate ordinances” and provide a year for public review and ordinance adjustments; Phelps supplied a letter of support from a council chair in the record.
Committee members confirmed the bill’s limited geographic and temporal scope with the sponsor; no amendments were offered. Senator Duplessis moved that the committee report House Bill 481 favorably and, with no objection, the motion carried.
The sponsor said the moratorium targets a specific district that represents inner‑city neighborhoods and that the measure is intended to give local bodies time to change permitting and notification procedures to ensure public input in future permit decisions.
