The West Lafayette City Council approved plans Monday to set physical and operational boundaries for new businesses along the Wabash River. The so-called “riverfront” district now expands past River Road, up State Street and along Fowler Avenue. The council voted to support applications for liquor licenses in the district so long as the business' sales are at least 67-percent food (i.e. not more than one-third alcohol) or it stays open no longer than from 11 a.m. to midnight. First District Councilman Nick DeBoer says the new riverfront license gives business owners the option of opening an operation at the price of $1,000 and the mayor’s signature – as opposed to the $150,000 it can take to buy a license on the open market. “It’s an opportunity for innovation and allows things that aren’t just chain restaurants to come into the area,” DeBoer says. “It seems unreasonable for somebody locally who can’t necessarily raise the capital to do something like that to open up a bar or
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