Waukegan City Council Divided Over One-Year Moratorium on New Liquor Licenses

A Public Safety Debate Splits Waukegan’s City Council

Waukegan Alderman Juan Martinez wants to stop new liquor stores from opening in his city. He says there are too many of them already. His colleague, Alderman Jose A. Guzman, disagrees. He calls the idea of a ban "like prohibition."

The Waukegan City Council’s Public Safety Committee is weighing a proposed ordinance that would impose a one-year moratorium on certain new liquor licenses. The debate highlights a growing split among council members over how to handle alcohol sales in a city where residents say liquor stores are everywhere.

"I have a huge homeless population in my ward and I have liquor stores everywhere," Martinez said. "I’m looking out not only for the safety of my constituents but the community as a whole. I want to put a stop to this, only for one year."

Which Licenses Would Be Paused

The proposed moratorium would not affect all alcohol sales in Waukegan. According to a draft of the ordinance reviewed by the Chicago Tribune, the ban would apply only to specific license classes:

• Liquor stores
• Video gaming parlors
• Packaged beer and wine sold at gasoline stations

Restaurants, bars, hotels, catering facilities, special events, government and historic sites, and the American Place Casino would not be impacted. Waukegan issues 21 classes and subclasses of liquor licenses in total.

Martinez said the one-year pause would give city officials time to study the impact of liquor stores on the community and decide on longer-term policy changes.

"This is about public safety. It’s about what’s right for the community," Martinez said. "It gives us the chance to regroup, to get it better, to make it more productive where it’s safe again."

Opponents Say the Moratorium Is Unnecessary

Guzman argued that the city already has the power to deny individual liquor license applications. Every new license comes before the full City Council for a vote.

"I don’t understand why a moratorium is needed," Guzman said. "If you don’t want a liquor license, it’s very easy. Get the five votes and vote no. That’s it. I don’t get what’s the (big) issue."

Alderman Keith Turner, 6th Ward, also expressed skepticism. He said state regulations already cover liquor licensing and that society should not blame a legal product for broader social problems.

"You can’t blame all the ills of society on a legal product," Turner said.

Turner suggested reforming the city’s multiple license categories instead. He noted that the state of Illinois does not use multiple categories for liquor licenses.

"The state does not have multiple categories. You either get a liquor license or you don’t. You sell liquor or you don’t and what you sell is up to you," Turner said.

Concerns Over Gaming Parlors

Alderman Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, supports the moratorium. She pointed to a recent case in which a liquor store in Waukegan also became a gaming parlor. She said that move set a bad precedent.

"We have a lot of liquor stores in this community and they’re all going to want gaming now because we did that for one," Florian said. "I support a moratorium, certainly for gaming cafes, I would support that forever."

A Loophole in License Transfers

The discussion also touched on how liquor licenses change hands. Licenses are issued to individual business owners and cannot be transferred to a new operator. The new owner must apply for their own license and win City Council approval.

According to Angie Morales, a member of the city’s licensing department staff, a loophole exists for corporate-owned stores. If a buyer purchases the corporation that holds the license, the license transfers with the sale.

"If they buy the corporation, they would fill out the information so we have the new ownership’s information but the license would flow," Morales said.

The Public Safety Committee’s meeting on Monday at City Hall did not result in a final vote. The committee is working to refine the language of the proposed ordinance before it moves to the full City Council.

The debate comes as Waukegan navigates other major changes. The city recently approved a $281.7 million budget with a projected $600,000 surplus, its first in recent memory. The $302 million permanent American Place Casino also broke ground in June, a project expected to create 700 jobs and open in 2028, according to the Chicago Tribune.