A New Bill-of-
Fare
By James Middleton
There was a day when anyone seeking to apply for a
liquor license in Belvidere had to pay the city a $20,000
license application fee. That was once the case. Then,
years later, the Belvidere City Council agreed, after
considerable discussion, to cut that fee in half. The current
liquor license fee in Belvidere totals today $10,000.
There has not necessarily been an explosion of fine
dining establishments and bars in downtown Belvidere, but
since the city fee was reduced, more have arrived. In the
Monday Belvidere City Council meeting, the aldermen had
the opportunity to see a first reading of an application for
a restaurant applying for special use zoning to sell liquor
by the drink, to offer video gaming to their customers and
to open a beer garden at a future date. The application is
likely to return to the City Council for final consideration
in two weeks when the matter comes for a second reading.
It should be noted, to date, liquor license fines, renewals
and license application fees through March 2016 have
amounted to, according to a city report, $100,152, as
compared to $66,000 that was budgeted last year. In 2014
those fees and fines totaled over $96,500 and in 2015 the
fines and fees totaled $122,000. Further, revenue coming
into the city from video gaming totaled $19,618 in 2014.
By 2015, that figure had increased to more than $108,000
and thus far in 1016, video gaming revenue has reached
over $165,000. In the month of March alone, video gaming
revenue totaled over $16,000.
The party that made the application for this dining and
entertainment venue is Niko Kanakaris. He owns similar
establishments in Woodstock, Janesville and Marengo.
The restaurant that he plans to open in Belvidere will be
called Pointers and he has another Pointers in Marengo.
Ed Marx owns the building where Pointers would be
opened. Mr. Marx said, “There are two floors to the place
and a total of 3,500 square feet in both floors.” Mr. Marx
described the restaurant as a place where customers can get
full meals or they could get sandwiches and salads. “This
would not only be a place where you could get a burger,
they will serve great meals, too.”
The official application asks for a special use permit for
“Indoor Commercial Entertainment” that would include
video gaming and “Outdoor Commercial Entertainment”
that would include a beer garden. The address for this site
is 410 South State Street in downtown Belvidere.
The application was considered in a public hearing that
occurred on April 12 before the Belvidere Planning and
Zoning Commission where Gina DelRose the Belvidere
community development planner presented the report of
the city planning department. The application was made
in the name of “Platinum Property Partners, LLC.” She
indicated that the property had previously applied for a
special use permit for outdoor and indoor commercial
entertainment and the application was granted on January
4, 2010. However, the special use granted was never put
into operation.
The result of Ms. DelRose’s report found that the
planning staff recommended approval of the application
with seven conditions. Some of those conditions included
access to the beer garden would be from the building
only, limitations were applied to outdoor lighting and
if renovations of the building are needed, the applicant
would require a Certificate of Appropriateness to meet
the signage and lighting requirements of the Downtown
Overlay District. Further, if music would be provided in
the beer garden, decibel limitations would be applied, the
special use would only apply to the property covered in
the applications and the owner would also be required to
comply with all other codes and ordinances.
Mr. Marx also appeared at the meeting and said that
he had entered into a contract to sell the building site to
Mr. Kanakaris. Both Mr. Marx and Mr. Kanakaris agreed
that Pointers would be different from any other dining
and entertainment venue in Belvidere. After the formal
presentation of information at the hearing there were no
questions and a motion was placed on the floor to approve
the application. The vote was 6—0 to approve the
application.
The next stop for the application is be presented
before the Belvidere City Council and that first reading of
Ordinance #298H occurred in the Monday City Council
meeting. A second reading and potential final consideration
of the request could occur in two weeks.
The site where the entertainment venue would arise
is currently vacant. However, it is expected, if approval
is granted by the City Council, the improvements and
renovations would begin soon for the restaurant and tavern
to open and begin serving customers.
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