Following the passage of new ordinances by the Sturgis City Council, the community is lifting the number of alcoholic malt beverage licenses.
This comes just weeks before the 2024 Rally.
Prior to this decision, the licenses were capped at 40 across town.
“The ultimate purpose of the revisions is to remove the 40 licenses cap on the malt beverage licenses and then to consolidate all malt beverage licenses underneath one heading to simplify the process," said city attorney Eric Miller. "Based off my discussions with the finance office, there’s really no significant burden on finance from removal of the cap, and then the additional fees accrued will help cover any of the costs.”
Some concerns were voiced about the ripple effect of the decision on local law enforcement. Despite this, the new ordinance passed the council unanimously.