Brookfield may soon introduce a new class of liquor license to the village.
At its July 22 committee of the whole meeting, the Brookfield village board discussed the possibility of creating a liquor license for businesses that specialize in art or artisan products and host regular classes or events. The license would allow these businesses to provide and serve alcohol to registered guests at events on the premises. Businesses with this kind of license would not be allowed to serve alcohol outside of scheduled events.
While the board seemed supportive of the measure, trustees did not vote on it at the meeting; the new liquor license class cannot be created unless they vote to allow it at the board’s next meeting Aug. 26.
Assistant Village Manager Stevie Ferrari said at the meeting that Brookfield looked into creating this kind of liquor license — sometimes called a “sip and paint” license, according to a village memo — after the village was approached by Yezenia Tejeda, the owner of Warm Wick, an artisanal candle retailer at 3732 Prairie Ave. that opened in 2022. Tejeda sought a one-time liquor license for a candle-making event at the store but could not obtain one, because she had already received the maximum number allowed for the year by the village’s liquor code.
“In review of our liquor ordinance, we do not have a current license that would apply, given her business use. Yezenia has, in conjunction with other business owners on Prairie Avenue, applied for and has received a special event liquor license in the past with no incidents or concern by the village in having those events,” Ferrari said. “She would not be able to pursue a special event liquor license as part of this request because we only allow up to six for any single business owner as part of special event liquor licensing, and her candle-making artisan classes surpass six events each year.”
At the meeting, Tejeda told trustees she would only seek to serve wine and alcoholic seltzers at Warm Wick’s candle-making events, which have a maximum capacity of about 15 people. During these events, the store is closed to patrons who are not participating.
After Tejeda approached the village, Ferrari said, Brookfield staff looked into similar liquor licenses in other suburbs of Chicago. According to a village memo, staff could not find any such licenses in communities that neighbor Brookfield, but they did find examples of “sip and paint” liquor licenses with varying conditions and fees in Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Schaumburg and Wheaton.
According to a draft of the ordinance that would create the new license, Brookfield is planning to charge $600 for the license, which would need to be renewed each year. The draft ordinance would change the liquor code to allow zero of the new Class 16 licenses.
It may seem like this would not allow any businesses to actually obtain a “sip and paint” liquor license, but, historically, Brookfield has approved liquor licenses beyond the number allowed by the liquor code through individual ordinances. Essentially, the village board would have to approve each unique Class 16 license rather than issuing a certain number without the board’s say-so, like it does for other kinds of liquor licenses.
“This is just another example of staff thinking on their feet,” Village President Michael Garvey said at the meeting. “The situation came up, and, as I know the board is very supportive of local businesses, this is a way we might be able to support some local businesses without a lot of negative impact.”
