HAMMOND — In its meeting Tuesday night, the City of Hammond Council failed to approve the renewal of alcohol licenses for businesses in the city limits.
The renewals were for 106 businesses within city limits for 2026. Restaurants, stores, and bars were included in this list.
Three council members (Kip Andrews, Devon Wells, and Carlee Gonzales) abstained from voting, and two voted to approve the resolution. Because the “yes” votes were not in the majority for the five-person council, the approval did not go through, meaning that more than 100 businesses could see changes in the next year.
Earlier this year, the council considered raising the age limit for admittance to bars from 18 to 21 years, as well as banning alcohol consumption at city parks. The council ended up tabling those discussions.
Dan Lambert, owner of Cate Street Pub, has been in business since 1997 and said the city council did something similar a couple years ago.
He says this denial will greatly affect the City of Hammond, and change next year’s actual budget, which has already been approved.
“How can they make up the revenue that they would lose from the sale of alcohol? We’re talking about not just hurting businesses. You’re talking about bankrupting the city,” Lambert said.
The denial affects more than just restaurants and bars; businesses like grocery and convenience stores that had permits to sell alcohol will no longer be able to do so. Among these are Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, Dollar General, Family Dollar, and other chain and local stores.
“People aren’t going to make two trips to go to Wal-Mart in Hammond and then the Wal-Mart in Ponchatoula to get their beer. They’re going to go to one place. You’re losing not just alcohol sales, but all the sales tax are related to that that’s bankrupting our city.”
Looking to the future, Lambert said he’s considering opening up a location just outside city limits because that’s the only thing he can do if the council doesn’t reverse its decision.
He believes that new businesses will not want to enter Hammond because of these decisions. “People are starting to see more and more about the shenanigans that go on, and it really is detrimental to the businesses, to the city.”
Lambert said he currently has a lawsuit against the city council in the 21st JDC for the last time it introduced an ordinance and did not allow public comment. He also said that the Louisiana State Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office is aware of the situation.
Lambert added that this alcohol license denial will continue to affect Hammond’s business environment negatively.
“These future big corporate chains, you have Applebee’s and Chilis and people like that, they’re not going to stay here,” Lambert said, noting that they would likely go to places like Ponchatoula or to another parish like St. Tammany. “We can’t afford to be losing business.”
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