Belleville to limit number of special event centers and impose stricter regulations
Belleville is trying to stop the proliferation of special-event centers that might cause problems for the city.
Some are operating like restaurants or bars open to the public without going through proper licensing procedures or following liquor laws, according to city officials and other business owners.
Cliff Cross, director of economic development planning and zoning, blamed the problem partly on a zoning ordinance that he felt was too vague. Event centers were lumped into the general category of businesses for “amusement and recreation,” along with bowling alleys and theaters.
“I don’t think anybody’s saying we don’t want them,” Cross said. “We just want to know more about their businesses. If (places that serve liquor) aren’t regulated and controlled, they can become a nightmare for law enforcement.”
At the City Council meeting Monday night, the 10 aldermen in attendance unanimously amended the zoning ordinance by first defining an “event center,” as recommended by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“(It is) a location for the hosting of weddings, conferences, galas, and other similar events,” the ordinance now states. “Such uses may include non-accessory conference rooms, banquet halls, or other primary structures utilized for ceremonial, business, or organizational related events.”
Event centers must be housed in freestanding buildings that have no other uses, differentiating them from churches, fraternal lodges or hotels and restaurants with private party rooms.
Aldermen also voted to limit the total number of event centers to 12 in Belleville at any given time and require that new centers are located at least a mile from existing ones.
“Anybody who’s already established, and they were established legally, they won’t be affected (by the zoning changes),” said Cross, who knows of 11 event centers now operating.
Iesha and De Carlos Underwood remember thinking that Belleville didn’t have enough event centers in 2019, when they remodeled a two-story brick building on West Main Street and opened Events at the U.
Since that time, they’ve seen a steady rise in the number of event centers. One opened a block from their business. Iesha Underwood estimates that six are operating in West Belleville.
“They’re popping up all over,” she said. “Every time I look up, there’s another grand opening of a venue.”
The Underwoods recently bought another building near Events at the U and created an event center called Grand U with plans to turn their original space into a different type of business.
They’re not objecting to “legitimate” competition, but they don’t like how some of the new event centers operate, hosting wedding receptions and anniversary parties but also advertising “Taco Tuesdays,” fish fries and teen nights and allowing people to bring in liquor.
“It’s very frustrating,” Iesha Underwood said. “It’s giving event centers in Belleville a bad name.”
Cross said the Underwoods are operating “the right way.” They only rent space for private events, according to Iesha Underwood, who attended the City Council meeting and expressed relief that officials are trying to solve the problem before it gets out of hand.
This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 10:04 AM.
