Plan commission backs LD’s Barbecue request to expand outdoor events, clarify outdoor alcohol service

The East Troy Plan Commission voted to recommend approval of a conditional use amendment that would let LD’s Barbecue increase outdoor special events from 15 to 19 annually and formalize how alcohol may be served outdoors.

Planner Orin told the commission the application, filed by Leon Davis for LD’s Barbecue Pit LLC (application 2026-06), would also add a temporary 20-by-40-foot tent in the parking lot instead of the previously approved pavilion and incorporate a map that defines where alcohol may be served during events and regular business hours. Orin said staff tied the CUP to the village board’s approval of an outdoor licensed premises area so alcohol service during events aligns with the liquor license.

The recommendation matters because it combines event limits, on-site safety measures and liquor licensing language in one approval. The applicant is asking for four additional events, including a non-bike-night celebration around July 3, and wants the option to operate a mobile drink trailer on the east side of the property for regular and event service.

Commissioners discussed site layout, pedestrian safety and parking. Orin said the property has about 75 striped spaces on the east side and roughly 53 temporary spaces on the west, for a total of about 128 spaces; applying the existing standard of one parking space per three patrons yields an on-site cap near 384 attendees if all parking is handled on site. Commissioners asked whether that standard remains appropriate and whether neighboring property parking (for example, at Car Quest) could supplement capacity; staff said police and fire had received materials and offered no concerns in their initial review.

Orin also described draft CUP conditions: the CUP would explicitly list ‘‘restaurant with outdoor patio, indoor and outdoor sale and consumption of alcohol, and outdoor commercial entertainment events,’’ require certain initial conditions before permit issuance, and specify that revocation or nonrenewal of the alcohol license would automatically terminate the CUP. The staff memo included two colored boundaries: a purple area for licensed service during events and a yellow area for regular outdoor patio service.

The commission pressed for operational controls. The applicant said servers would be licensed and trained and that the tent location would remain on private property; staff said the applicant plans to cordon off a pedestrian area for attendees so vehicles won’t be driven through the tented zone. The chair and commissioners also discussed making the events authorization transferable; historically the outdoor-events portion of the CUP had been non-transferable and staff carried that language forward. The applicant asked that the events authorization be transferable upon sale of the property or transfer of title of the LLC.

After discussion, a motion to recommend approval of the three items in the staff report — including the site plan amendment, the change in event count to 19, and the liquor/ premises clarifications — with the added language to make the event authorization transferable for the LLC carried on a voice vote. The plan commission will forward its recommendation to the village board for final action, and staff said they will coordinate an amendment to the liquor-license language so the board can consider CUP and licensing changes together.

The village board will make the final decision; the plan commission’s action is a recommendation, subject to the village board’s approval and the applicant satisfying the CUP’s initial conditions.