McHenry council limits outdoor alcohol sales, sets music cutoff for Shamrock weekend events

At its March 3 meeting the McHenry City Council approved temporary use permits for multiple downtown businesses participating in the city’s Shamrock weekend, imposing uniform cutoff times to ease enforcement and address public-safety concerns.

Council members voted to allow Foxhole Pizza and Pub, The Courthouse Tavern, Toast and Roast and Salerno’s Pizza & R Bar to participate in the event with conditions: outdoor alcohol sales must stop at 6 p.m. at locations that do not already have a fenced, year‑round outdoor service area; amplified outdoor music tied to those temporary areas must end by 7 p.m. (the Courthouse may serve alcohol through its regular license until 2 a.m. within its fenced patio).

The condition came after extended discussion among council members, the police chief and city staff about safety, crowd control and consistency. Police and staff recommended a 6 p.m. cutoff for outdoor sales to reduce the number of people wandering downtown after dark and to make enforcement consistent across businesses.

“The 6PM was a time that was selected by staff when this event first took off because we really felt it was a a good point where we could control the overall safety,” Police Chief said during the discussion. “From the police standpoint, we would prefer to keep it at 6PM.”

Alderman Davis said she favored consistent rules across downtown venues: “I prefer just to keep it within the same rules as the open liquor just to keep it simple.” Several council members said they also wanted to support downtown businesses while balancing safety; one council member said the businesses had invested in tents and porta‑potties and that 10 p.m. outdoors would be too late but 10 a.m.–10 p.m. daytime hours were reasonable.

Votes at the meeting resolved each permit individually. The council approved the Foxhole Pizza and Pub permit with the 6 p.m. alcohol cutoff and 7 p.m. music cutoff on March 15 (Yes: McClatchy, Davis, Cook, Bassi, Glab; No: Miller). The Courthouse Tavern was approved with amplified music limited to 7 p.m. while its licensed outdoor service may continue within its fenced patio to 2 a.m. (unanimous yes). Toast and Roast (March 14–16) was approved with the same conditions as the Courthouse (unanimous yes). Salerno’s Pizza & R Bar (March 14–16), applying for a state special-event license to sell alcohol on its back patio, was approved with outdoor sales limited as above and amplified music ending at 7 p.m. (Yes: Davis, Miller, Cook, Bassi; No: McClatchy, Glab).

City staff described standard enforcement steps: stop sales at the cutoff time, give a 15‑minute notice to finish drinks, and allow a controlled dispersal to avoid crowding in streets and sidewalks. The police chief said extending sales past 6 p.m. would require additional officer deployments to manage safety and crowd flow.

The council also confirmed that existing year‑round, fenced patios (for example the Courthouse and other licensed patios) may continue to operate under their regular liquor licenses within their established footprints, and that the council’s conditions apply to the temporary use areas requested for Shamrock weekend.

Public-safety enforcement details, permit conditions and the 6 p.m./7 p.m. time windows were recorded as conditions of the issued temporary-use permits.