GREEN RIVER — A liquor license application for the old movie theatre building was unanimously approved by the Green River City Council Tuesday night, and the entertainment offered in the building will be “adult-only”.

The application was submitted by Amy Surdam, of Cheyenne-based Full Circle Realty LLC. Surdam said she and her husband bought the movie theatre’s location, at 699 Uinta Drive, with the intention of leasing it. She said as community-minded people, they believe “there’s nothing worse for a community than a vacant building.”

While there is a party interested in leasing the building, they needed the liquor license to operate the business they’d like. However, the intended business and buyer are being kept confidential as of now, Surdam said. Surdam did reveal that the building will be kept as one business with one tenant, rather than housing several businesses.

Additionally, she said that the business would be an entertainment facility. Council member Sherry Bushman asked if the entertainment would be for families, to which Surdam said that “at this time, it’s adult-only entertainment”. According to Surdam, without the liquor license the tenant would not be interested in the location.

Director of Finance Chris Meats said that this liquor license application is for a full retail license, and is the last license of this kind in the city. This means no other businesses selling packaged liquor or bars can apply for a license in Green River. While the city has unlimited restaurant licenses, Meats said the city has just 20 full retail licenses. Meats said that a full retail license would not be required for a restaurant to sell alcohol unless they wanted to sell packaged liquor or have a bar.

“This is the [license] that has been designated for the last 20 years for a grocery store if one chose to come,” Meats said.

Meats said that there was an attempt last year in the Wyoming Legislature to give local governments control over how many full retail licenses they could have, but it was shot down fairly quickly. He said he would be surprised if it comes up again this legislative session, as it is a budget session. Meats also said that this license will stay with the property owner until they release it. Therefore, if a business owner leases the building and then leaves, the license will stay with Full Circle Realty.

Council member Gary Killpack asked if the council has any control over what business goes into the building if they approve the liquor license, which Meats said the city has limited control to begin with over types of businesses that open in the city.

“Certain things under the statutes and ordinances allow you for approval, or things that are outside of the zoning,” Meats said. “Sexually-oriented business are at approval by council by our local city ordinance. Other than that, it would have to be a nonconventional use outside of the zoning, which I believe it’s a zoning of business class, so you’d have to be talking something like putting residential homes or industrial type classes. Other than that, I don’t believe there would be any approval required by Council.”

Mayor Pete Rust clarified that the city’s zoning districts are what ultimately determines the uses of a building, not the council.

“It’s zoned, and the zoning determines what kinds of uses can be allowed in that zoned district,” Mayor Rust said. “Just like any piece of property.”

Now that the liquor license is approve, Surdam said that she will negotiate a lease with the tenant. The timeline for the reveal of the business and an opening date is unknown. However, she believes the business owner will want to start renovations as early as possible and open within a year.

Other Business

The council selected Killpack to serve as the council president, and Mike Shutran as the vice president. They also chose Killpack and Bushman to sit on the finance committee, with Council member George Jost as an alternate.

Next week there will be a council workshop with Wyoming Waste Services to discuss rates and a yard waste service schedule. The workshop will be Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m.