The City of Sitka will petition the state alcohol board for three more restaurant beer and wine licenses. The Sitka Assembly made the decision after two meetings filled with community debate.
The State of Alaska limits restaurant beer and wine licenses to one for every 1,500 people, and Sitka has technically already met the state limit for a town of its size — ringing in at just over 8,000 residents with six year-round licenses and two seasonal tourism licenses. But new regulations have opened the door for communities around the state to petition for additional licenses by taking into consideration seasonal visitor numbers.
The City of Sitka estimates the island has a visitor population of more than 665,000 people per year, and approximately 3,200 non-local workers. Since 2023, Juneau, Homer, Haines, Soldotna, Wasilla and Valdez have had similar petitions approved.
At the Sitka Assembly meeting on Oct. 28, over two dozen community members and business owners called for the city to pursue the additional licenses.
“For me, this isn’t about alcohol at all. It’s about what we build around it,” said Cambria Holmes, co-owner of Campfire Kitchen, which hopes to accompany its pizza offerings in its new downtown location with beer and wine.
Holmes said approving additional licenses would support a thriving downtown, generate more tax revenue, foster community and add healthy competition.
“I want to be clear, if I thought for a moment that obtaining this license would harm anyone or hurt the fabric of this community, I wouldn’t be standing up here advocating for them,” she said. “I’m raising my daughter here, and I care deeply about the kind of place that she grows up in, one where businesses act responsibly, where families feel safe, and where we model what community looks like at its best.”
While the majority of community members voiced support specifically for Campfire Kitchen, several assembly members, including Katie Riley, reiterated that the decision on the table wasn’t about any one specific business, but about what’s best for the community.
“The question being asked of us tonight is whether or not, essentially, it’s in the public interest, or whether or not our community has the capacity to handle three more Restaurant and Eating Place Licenses, not who should get it or what they should do with it,” Riley said.
Sponsors of the resolution, Thor Christianson and JJ Carlson, said in a city memo that by adding more beer and wine licenses, they hope to allow existing businesses to grow, new businesses to start, and to meet the demand of the sizeable visitor and seasonal worker populations while still providing year-round employment and dining options for locals. While most public testimony was in line with this theme, one community member spoke against the resolution.
Michelle Kavouras is prevention director at Sitka Counseling, and is the Southeast regional co-chair for the Alaska Alcohol Alliance. She said temporary visitors aren’t reflective of Sitka’s actual population, and said allowing more places to serve alcohol would affect Sitka’s recovery community, which is running out of alcohol-free places to go.
“When we consider public interest, we are not just looking at creating revenue, we are looking at the health and safety of our community,” Kavouras said. “Adding more licenses means adding more risk for our youth, for our families and for our community. Any increase in alcohol availability has the potential to affect public safety, mental health and overall wellbeing, and these factors must be weighed thoughtfully.”
Assembly member Kevin Mosher also voiced concerns about public safety, and said he couldn’t reconcile voting yes to request more licenses based on Sitka’s high tourism numbers.
“Because of this new law, we can include the seasonal numbers. Before we couldn’t,” Mosher said. “But I am struggling right now with choosing to request a license that will be for a year-round thing, for something based on seasonal numbers. So in my mind, although the state made it legal, I don’t know that that’s a wise course of action, because why did we issue the licenses? For public safety.”
The assembly considered petitioning the state board for up to six licenses at its meeting in August, before deciding to postpone a decision until more research and discussion was had. Assembly member Christianson said Tuesday that settling on three additional licenses is a good compromise, will be good for the economy and shouldn’t contribute to teen drinking.
“It’s not perfect,” he said. “I would love to be able to address everybody’s concerns, but we can’t. It’s the system we have, and I think we should go ahead and do this.”
After lengthy discussion, including a conversation about public health concerns and two amendments to the original motion, the Sitka Assembly voted to move forward with the petition on a 6-1 vote, with Mosher opposed.
Staff are expected to submit the petition materials and virtually attend the Alcohol Beverage Control Board meeting in early December, where Sitka’s request will likely be considered. If the board approves the petition, businesses will still have to come back and apply for the licenses.
