> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bsquarebulletin.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bloomington adopts liquor-permit rules covering new state slots, historic district - URL: https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-adopts-liquor-permit-rules-covering-new-state-slots-historic-district/ - Published: 2026-09-11T09:56:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-11T09:56:30.000Z - Description: Bloomington’s city council has adopted rules for deciding which businesses get city backing for lower-cost liquor permits outside the normal population-based quota. The framework includes a 50% local-ownership standard. - Author: Dave Askins - Tags: Local Government, #no-inline-feature ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/06/5-3-map-of-liquor-districts-Screenshot-2026-06-06-at-7.33.13---PM-2.png) Map by The B Square \[[link to dynamic map](https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1OEmjXcJd47H4FK1jWqpHR1o%5Fhz0gBbM&usp=sharing )\] A little more than a week ago, Bloomington’s city council finally put rules in place for deciding which businesses the city will support for a limited number of lower-cost liquor permits. It’s a framework that had been [under discussion for a few months](https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-council-to-weigh-liquor-permit-rules-with-reach-beyond-two-new-state-slots/), but has origins that can be traced to a [2005 state law](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2005-liquor-permits-Engrossed-Version-Senate-Bill-0382.pdf ) that was on the radar of Bloomington city councilmembers [as soon as 2008](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2008-02-20-liquor-permit-mention-City%5FCouncil-20080220-Minutes.pdf#page=2). At its regular meeting on Sept. 2, the council unanimously adopted the [ordinance](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/Ordinance-2026-18-Establishing-Guidelines-for-Special-Alcoholic-Beverage-District-Permits-Amended-and-Adopted-Corrected.pdf) putting the rules in place. The ordinance does not itself issue any liquor permits. Instead, it establishes the city’s screening process and conditions for recommending applicants to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC), which has the authority to issue the permits. One thing that spurred the council to act now was legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly this year \[[SB 89](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0089/SB0089.05.ENRH.pdf)\]. The bill made two additional three-way permits available specifically for Bloomington, outside the normal population-based quota. Based just on the formula of one three-way permit for every 1,500 residents, Bloomington gets 53 permits. A three-way permit allows sales of beer, wine and liquor for consumption on the premises. Those two new permits carry an initial cost of $40,000\. That is substantially less than the private-market price of an existing quota permit. The [February 2026 edition](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2026-02-Liquor-license-beer-wine-3-way-Transfer-sale-price-by-jurisdiction.pdf) of the [ATC’s statewide transfer-price report](https://www.in.gov/atc/files/Transfer-sale-price-by-jurisdiction.pdf) showed 19 Bloomington three-way permit transfers with a median price of $235,000. But the city’s new rules reach beyond those two permits. They also cover permits connected to the Courthouse Square Historic District and could apply to other qualifying districts the city creates in the future, including a possible riverfront district. The [historic-district provision of state law](https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/7.1#7.1-3-20-16 ) already provides another route to permits outside the population quota. It allows up to 15 new three-way, two-way or one-way permits for restaurants located within, or within 1,500 feet of, a qualifying historic district. The 15 permits connected to a historic-district cost $25,000 initially, with a $1,000 renewal fee. The possibility of using a similar mechanism through a riverfront district [surfaced last year](https://bsquarebulletin.com/city-council-again-mulls-stadium-district-as-name-for-area-around-bloomington-urban-wetland-park-as-liquor-zone-question-looms/) in connection with the area around Miller-Showers Park. The council would first need to establish such a riverfront district. Under the new city rules, a business seeking the city’s backing has to be located in Bloomington and within the geographic area required by the specific state permit program. It also has to meet whatever restaurant, food-service or other use requirement state law imposes. The council ultimately stopped short of imposing its own numerical food-sales test. An earlier draft of the ordinance would have required at least 60% of a restaurant’s gross retail income to come from food. The adopted ordinance instead says the city will impose no additional minimum food-sales percentage beyond any requirement of state law or the ATC. The guidelines still say the city intends to “prioritize restaurant-oriented uses over alcohol-consumption-focused use.” Galen Cassady, co-owner of the Uptown Cafe, supported leaving the rigid food-sales percentage out. From the public mic, during the Sept. 2 city council meeting, Cassady pointed to craft breweries as an example of why a fixed food-sales percentage might not fit every business model. Later, Cassady pointed to the state legislation that had long been in place, telling councilmembers that “a version of this ordinance is over 20 years in the making.” Cassady said the lower-cost permits could lower barriers for younger entrepreneurs trying to launch restaurant, bar or other concepts. Several restrictions in the original draft were eliminated by an [amendment](https://bloomington.in.gov/onboard/meetingFiles/17393/download#page=10 ) put forward by council president Isak Asare. The final ordinance does not require a business to operate at least 216 days a year, does not impose a default midnight closing time and does not require a business entity to have been formed in Indiana or maintain its principal office in Monroe County. Proposed hours instead become part of the city’s review, with the council able to impose conditions, they are justified by public safety, neighborhood compatibility or another public-interest concern. The adopted rules keep a strong local-ownership requirement. More than half of the applicant’s ownership interests have to be held by people whose primary home addresses are in Monroe County. That’s unless the council determines that a different ownership structure would substantially advance the purposes of the program. That 50% local-ownership provision survived the late round of amendments at the Sept. 2 meeting. Council president Isak Asare had proposed removing the local-ownership percentage as part of his significant amendment with several changes that were intended to make the rules less restrictive. After concerns from councilmembers Dave Rollo and Hopi Stosberg, Asare offered a second amendment restoring the 50% requirement. Applications are to be handled by the city’s economic and sustainable development Department. Businesses can be asked for ownership information, proof of control of the proposed location, a menu, proposed hours, a responsible-alcohol-service plan, an economic-vitality statement, insurance and good-standing documentation. The city can also require an applicant to make a public presentation before the council or one of its committees. Before Bloomington sends a favorable recommendation to the ATC, the business has to sign a formal written commitment with the city. State law [explicitly allows](https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/7.1#7.1-3-19-17) a municipal legislative body to require such a commitment regarding the character or type of business as a condition of eligibility for these special permits. The council then decides whether to approve that agreement and recommend the applicant to the state. The city’s recommendation does not guarantee a permit. The ATC remains the agency that issues, renews, transfers, suspends or revokes alcoholic beverage permits. In other words, the new ordinance does not make one of the cheaper three-way permits automatic for a qualifying downtown business. It establishes, for the first time, the rules Bloomington will use to decide which applicants get the city’s backing. --- Businesses have to apply through the city’s [online licensing system](https://energov.bloomington.in.gov/energov%5Fprod/civic-access-public/home ). The economic and sustainable development department will review the application. The city council can require a public presentation. Any business receiving city support has to sign a formal agreement before the council forwards its recommendation to the ATC, which makes the final decision on issuance of a permit.