Votes at a glance: Milwaukee Licenses Committee — July 22, 2025

The Milwaukee Common Council Licenses Committee met July 22, 2025 and acted on a long agenda of licensing items, holding some items for follow-up and approving others. Below is a concise at-a-glance summary of formal actions (motions and outcomes) recorded during the meeting. The committee also discussed several items that will require follow-up with the permit center or other departments.

Votes at a glance - Amani Place (401 N. 30th Place) — class B tavern license: APPROVED (motion by Ald. Mark Chambers). Roll call: Brower Aye; Regalis Abstain; Chambers Aye; Pratt Aye; Samarripa Aye. Outcome: approved 4–0 (1 abstain). Zoning/occupancy steps remain outstanding (permit-center/BOZA follow-up).

- St. Catherine’s of Hope (1032 E. Knapp St.) — rooming-house license renewal: APPROVED with warning letter and required mitigation measures (motion by Ald. Mark Chambers). Measures include staff mental-health/first-aid training, twice-hourly perimeter checks with logs, camera registration with MPD, monthly review of police reports and expedited eviction for repeat problem tenants. Licensing will monitor compliance.

- A number of routine and contested business licenses were also decided. Selected actions recorded on the public record include: - Lisbon Ave Grocery (food dealer at 5611 W. Lisbon Ave) — APPROVED (agent Anton Hamilton) — motion approved. - Valentine Coffee Roasters (5918 W. Village St.) — APPROVED. - Charles e Fromage (5811 W. Felipe St.) — APPROVED. - Hometown Gas (3200 S. 20th St. / Ja Petroleum) — Renewal APPROVED with a WARNING LETTER (security/operational recommendations recorded). - Mitchell Market (5300 S. Howell Ave.) — Amended to beer-only (tavern B beer only) and APPROVED (state liquor process for airport noted). - Roadway Inn & Suites (hotel/motel license renewal) — Renewal APPROVED with a WARNING LETTER. - Locust Gas & Food Mart (1432 W. Locust St.) — Renewal APPROVED with a WARNING LETTER; operator reported hiring contracted security for late-night hours. - Many other new and renewal food-dealer and tavern applications were approved or held to the call of the chair; items held will return for follow-up (see below).

Holds and outstanding items - Several agenda items were held to the call of the chair so applicants and staff could complete supplemental materials or coordinate with alder offices; this included multiple small-business and home-improvement contractor items, and some event-space permit matters. - A recurring operational issue in several approvals involved outstanding occupancy or zoning steps (permit-center reviews and some BOZA considerations). Committee members repeatedly urged applicants to finalize BOZA/occupancy steps and to keep the district alderman and licensing division informed.

What the committee emphasized - Where approvals were granted despite concerns, the committee frequently added warning letters or required mitigation (security plans, warning letters, or documented operational commitments) and set expectations for licensing or DNS follow-up. - Multiple items (both tavern and rooming-house applications) included substantial neighbor testimony. The committee repeatedly encouraged applicants and neighbors to keep open lines of communication and for licensing and the aldermanic offices to track implementation.

Follow-up - Licensing staff will track mitigation and occupancy/BOZA follow-up for approved items that still have outstanding permit work. Several approvals were explicitly conditioned on completing related permit steps or on the operator following mitigation commitments. Where warning letters were issued, those are in the licensing file for enforcement follow-up.

If you need an item-level motion record (roll-call results, mover/second information and precise vote tallies) for any specific agenda item, licensing can provide certified minutes or the committee can be asked to publish the roll-call records tied to each agenda line.