Mat-Su

Push on to change 'terrible' liquor license type that threatened Wasilla wine bar

WASILLA -- Wasilla's Grape Tap just resolved a licensing problem that threatened to shutter the only wine bar in this city known more for strip malls and Sarah Palin than oenophiles.

The bureaucratic hurdles faced by Grape Tap owners Kristin and Casey Cook stem from a problematic type of alcohol license that frustrates even the top official at Alaska's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

The Cooks knew they had to get a new beer and wine license when they bought the restaurant in May, Kristin Cook said. And they knew that meant gathering signatures from nearby residents. The license includes a requirement to get signatures from 50 percent of the adults in a 1-mile radius.

What they didn't know is how many signatures that would be, Cook said. So she asked the state for a number. Someone at the ABC Board came up with a whopper: more than 1,800 -- meaning the new owners needed to snag nearly 950 names.

Cook and her crew took to the streets, going door to door. They encountered plenty of loose dogs, people in various states of undress and a stark reminder of how difficult it is to gather signatures, especially in these days of communication through social media instead of local bulletin boards.

It was also hard to imagine there were that many residential properties in that part of Wasilla anymore, Cook said. The numbers the ABC Board employee was using came from a 15-year-old U.S. Census count.

The signature-gatherers only got 120. In late September, the Cooks were notified that even those were invalid because there were more than 90 days old. They needed to start over because their license application was incomplete.

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Working with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Cook got the number reduced to 400. She got all the signatures she needed last week.

State officials say it looks like Grape Tap will remain open without interruption. But the situation illustrates a type of licensing category that even ABC Board executive director Cynthia Franklin wants eliminated.

"We heard great things about the Grape Tap," Franklin said. "We don't want it to shut down. We just want it to comply with the statute."

The restaurant holds an unusual type of liquor license: a non-transferable "public convenience license" that uses the signature requirement to get around statutory limits that govern the number of liquor licenses per capita.

It's "a terrible license type," Franklin said. The signature requirement is problematic for the licensee largely because there's no direction as to how the number is determined, Franklin said. It's also an "administrative nightmare" for the board to sort out, she added.

A stakeholder group worked for three years on suggested revisions to the state statute that governs alcohol licensing and regulation. The task force in a February report recommended a permanent moratorium on new public convenience licenses.

There are 57 such licenses around the state, nine of them seasonal, according to the task force report. The task force recommended grandfathering in existing licenses for the short term, with one transfer of ownership allowed before the license is retired. A new, seasonal tourism license would replace the public convenience category.

A much larger alcohol licensing bill introduced late in this year's legislative session, Senate Bill 99, would eliminate the public convenience license, Franklin said.

Grape Tap fills a crucial niche as far as regulars are concerned: good food and a range of vintages in a fairly sophisticated yet homey atmosphere.

Jacie Hart and her husband, Knik Kountry Liquor owner Duane Hart, ate lunch in the restaurant's lower-level wine cave on a recent weekday.

"It's a hit, it's a hit with all my girlfriends, especially when the guys are out hunting," Jacie Hart said. "A place to be safe and relax."

The restaurant opened in 2009 under a previous owner. Kristin Cook ran daily operations over the last few years after leaving a management position at Glacier Brewhouse and Orso in Anchorage. Casey Cook is emergency manager for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Kristin Cook said she didn't want to make waves but did want the situation better for the next business owner who might be in her position.

"They are trying to change it. They recognize that this is an issue," she said. "I guess it's a license that doesn't come around very often. Probably because it's such a pain."

Zaz Hollander

Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com.

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