The City of South Lyon is continuing to work on developing an ordinance regulating liquor licenses in the municipality.

Currently the city does not have a liquor license ordinance, but a memo to City Council from City Attorney Tim Wilhelm suggested officials should consider creating one. Wilhelm indicates the ordinance would be beneficial due to renewed interest in the downtown area and an increase in economic development in the community.

City Council met Monday with plans to hold a first reading of a draft ordinance, but was met with some resistance from local business owners against the additional regulation. Ryan Cottongim, owner of Witch’s Hat Brewing Company, says his business is already governed by so many laws and doesn’t understand why officials want to add another layer on top. Councilmember Maggie Kurtzweil agreed with Cottongim and says after reading the draft, she feels the ordinance is “way too restrictive” and micro-manages business owners’ decisions.

But Councilmember Mary Parisien says the ordinance has been revised a number of times to remove some restrictive components and that the draft is “as bare-bones as it gets”. Caty Stus, owner of Pinz Bowling Center, also spoke out against the proposed ordinance. She says she researched ordinances held by neighboring municipalities and feels South Lyon’s could still be scaled back further.

City Council ultimately decided to postpone the first reading to allow for more time to investigate certain provisions. Council plans to revisit the proposed ordinance at their second meeting in March. (DK)