PITTSFIELD, IL(Quincy Herald-Whig) — Debbie and Ted Festa plan plenty of theme weekends for campers, and sometimes the public, at their Pine Lakes Resort.
But plans for a wine tasting, part of a Vine-tastic Weekend, have been put on hold until next year while city officials look into creating a liquor license and guidelines for such events. Hayden expects the city’s ordinance committee will ask the full council next month to consider preparing an ordinance for a special event liquor license designed to cover events requested by businesses and organizations. Once prepared, an ordinance requires first and second reading for final approval, then goes into effect 10 days later, pushing the timetable to mid- to late-October. The ordinance likely will leave issuing the license to the city’s liquor commissioner, Hayden, based on set guidelines. Hayden said the guidelines probably will limit requests to no more than three per year, limit licenses to cover events lasting up to three days and require license holders to follow existing regulations including the hours of sale, which don’t start until noon on Sunday. Hayden stressed the new license will cover “isolated” cases and that he won’t allow events uptown on the square, although the city does not control events on the courthouse lawn. “The biggest thing I see is, since the wine industry has gotten so big in Illinois and around here, to cover somebody who wants to have a wine tasting event and sell a bottle of wine,” Hayden said. “If the fire department wanted to have a fundraiser, I’d have no problem with that. Pine Lakes is not wanting to sell liquor but have a wine-tasting event. It’s a very small issue in my mind.”
Debbie Festa had three wineries lined up for a wine-tasting, then found out Pittsfield, unlike most cities, didn’t offer a special events license under its liquor code.