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Bill to lower hotel-room threshold for liquor licenses draws support from developers
Summary
Representative Schutte introduced House Bill 4700 to lower the hotel-room threshold that determines liquor-license eligibility in certain downtown development areas; industry witnesses, including Bedrock CEO Jared Fleischer, supported the change as regulatory modernization.
Representative Schutte told the House Regulatory Reform Committee that House Bill 4700 updates language in the state liquor-control code to lower the number-of-rooms threshold that currently prevents many small boutique hotels in Grand Rapids and Detroit from qualifying for on-site liquor licenses.
Schutte said the existing numeric threshold dates to an older statutory era and can prevent smaller, entrepreneurial hotel projects from obtaining licenses. Representative Hoadley asked about the original intent of the threshold; Schutte said he believed it was tied historically to laws aimed at brothels but said that is not the current concern and that the bill is focused on boutique hotels.
Representative Wozniak asked whether tax-increment financing references in the bill mattered; Schutte said the initial form of the legislation targeted downtown development areas (where TIF is common) but that a subsequent substitute may expand the change statewide.
Jared Fleischer, CEO of Bedrock, testified remotely in favor of the bill and said lowering the threshold would support investment and tourism in cities such as Grand Rapids and Detroit by enabling a broader range of boutique hospitality projects. Cards read into the record showed support from the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and neutrality from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association.
No committee vote on HB4700 was recorded at this meeting.
