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more off-sale liquor outlets, please forward copies of the letters to me as well as the other 8 current off-sale license holders in the city. We would be interested in knowing which area of Roseville the residents fall short of access to alcohol. If there is such an area, then that is where the 10th license should be issued, not to Rainbow, which is directly across the street from MGM Liquor and a stone's throw away from Cellar's on Larpenteur Avenue. If you are receiving requests for additional off-sale licenses from perspective developers for their property, then you must consider how much of the money from that business will remain in your city and community. Many big box stores are large corporations that filter the majority of their profits out of state. Only their employees earn money that "might" stay in the community but more so in the community where they live. Not that many people that work in Roseville live in Roseville, in fact, Roseville's demographics show that its population has decreased over the years rather than increased. In order for the Roseville City Council to make a wise and informed decision, you need to collect and share with them the factual data related to off-sale liquor businesses vs. other businesses. It is like comparing apples to oranges - there is no comparison. I could own 5 coffee shops or gas station/convenience stores, or tobacco shops, or any other business in any one city, but by state statute I can only own one off-sale liquor store in a municipality. That is just the beginning of the differences! After reading your staff report you do not have accurate information to share with your public officials and your report does not fairly represent the basic information. In conclusion, if the City of Roseville public officials want to know more firsthand specifics related to the off-sale liquor business, perhaps they should consider conducting a public meeting for the current license holders in Roseville so the officials can hear from the licensees directly. The current economy has a serious consequence on all businesses right now, and it would not make any sense to add more off-sale liquor licenses to Roseville's already flooded market, now or in the future. Sincerely Jane M. Cross, Owner Bill Cross, Owner Network Liquors Inc. 2727 Lexington Ave. N. Roseville MN 55113 cc: Roseville City Council Members Roseville City Manager Attachment: **Off-sale Licenses Issued in Metro Cities 1/04 (**Please note I have not included this data but is is available if you are interested. It can be updated as it is from January 2004 and I would be happy to gather more up to date data.) *********************************************** CHRIS MILLER'S RESPONSE TO ME DATED 2/25/08 Dear Ms. Cross, Thank you for your insight and thoughtful comments. I'm confident that the Council will reflect on those comments as they approach their decision on this matter tonight and in the coming weeks. Let me begin by assuring you that the Council CANNOT change the allowable number of off-sale liquor licenses at tonight's Council meeting. The purpose of tonight's discussion is simply to determine whether the Council is interested in talking about it further - at a future public hearing. Let me also comment that the Staff Report to the Council is not (and never would be) the complete book of information that a council member would need to make an informed decision on an important matter such as this one. In this case, the Report merely serves to briefly identify an issue that will require Council attention - an issue that is being driven by applicants that are already in queue. It is NOT predicated, as you suggest, as the result of some public outcry for more liqu or stores. Presumably, the applicants have already determined that the consumer demand is there; hence their decision to go forward. In any event, if the Council decides to discuss this further, I am confident that they will identify what their information needs are in order to make their decision. Because you cannot attend tonight's meeting, you will not have the opportunity to hear Staff address some of your concerns about the Report. As 4