Council News Release

PUBLIC HEARING TONIGHT: ALCOHOL IMPACT AREAS (AIAS)
Seattle formally requests two AIA designations

SEATTLE—The City will make a formal request to the Washington State Liquor Control Board to require two mandatory alcohol impact areas within Seattle. The areas are the Central Core (including Capitol Hill) and the University District. The hearing takes place tonight at 6:00 p.m. (Thursday, June 29), in the Bertha Knight Landes room at Seattle City Hall (located between Cherry and James Streets on 4th Avenue downtown).

Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who will be testifying tonight, introduced the Council bill (115442) directing the Department of Neighborhoods and the Chief of Police to request that the Liquor Control Board impose mandatory restrictions in these neighborhoods. Tonight’s hearing will give the public and City officials the opportunity to report to the board about the experiences in those AIA areas.

"Community members have been asking us for help with alcohol related disturbances for years,” said Rasmussen. “This is why I intend to help. So, tonight I will deliver their message to the board. The funds designated by the Council will study the before—and after affects—of AIAs because we want actual evidence it works.”

An alcohol impact area (AIA) is an area of a city that is experiencing significant problems with chronic public inebriation or illegal activity associated with alcohol sales or consumption. Once an area is designated, efforts are made to mitigate the impacts by curtailing the sale of certain high alcoholic content beverages. The City Council added $42,000 to study the experiences in these two areas before the AIA’s were put into place, and again after, to gauge the effectiveness in reducing the problems associated with public inebriation in these neighborhoods.

If the city request is approved, mandatory restrictions on alcohol sales will go into effect by late summer.

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City Council