TRAVERSE CITY — Population growth brought six new liquor licenses to Grand Traverse County and tough competition for two in Garfield Township.
Liquor licenses for bars and restaurants are made available by the state liquor control commission, based on population established by census. Fife Lake, Green Lake, Blair and Long Lake townships all gained one license. But the sole competition lies in Garfield, where the township board must choose between local start-ups and large restaurant chains.
Size shouldn't matter in such cases, said Paul Barbas, a liquor license applicant and owner of Opa! Coney & Grill at the Cherryland Center.
"We've been here with our hands and our feet in the dirt for the last five years," Barbas said. "We are passionate about what we do ... and we are the ones who contributed to the population growth."
Other contenders include: the Flap Jack Shack on U.S. 31, owned by Omelette Partners Inc., who own several restaurants in Traverse City and Grand Rapids; Loco Burrito Authentic Mexican Grill & Bar, a chain of more than 90 restaurants that will open behind Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant at the Grand Traverse Mall, and Spaghetti Jim's, a wholesale pasta maker that opened a small market and cafe on South Airport Road across from the Cherryland Center.
"It's good for Garfield Township, especially for a small business like mine that can grow substantially with a liquor license," said James Abfalter, owner of Spaghetti Jim's.
This week, Garfield's township board adopted criteria and appointed a committee to review applicants.
"The feeling of the board is they want it to be a business who is going to be relatively substantial, have a number of employees and is going to stick around," said Chuck Korn, township supervisor. "The last place we want the licenses to end up is in the hands of a broker."
Other townships that gained licenses don't have Garfield's problem. Long Lake and Fife Lake already had extra licenses available. No one applied for Green Lake's available license.
Blair Township chose Metro Coney Island and Grill on U.S. 31, the lone applicant for its new license.
