One day at a time

So you'll see in the recent Green Lake Reporter that we approached the city, once again, prior to the annual renewal of liquor licenses.
Just an FYI - there is no technical difference between the non-quota and the quota license. It's just how the city tallies the numbers.
Next point in case: JT Skewers is closed. Last year we argued that the capacity of Skewers makes them a quota exception (300 seats), but the city can't decide if capacity is determined by fire code, number of chairs, what the owner says, etc. The state won't define it, because they want to give the city the control (at least that is our assumption). So that's one avenue.
The other is abandonment. This means that when a business is closed for a certain period of time, they lose the automatic renew right for the liquor license.
So the building is empty and has been since late December. It's on the market, of course, as it has been for years. It's on a major highway. Three restaurants have failed there(that we know of). So are we going to tie up a license for another year.
Here's the real issue: is the city in the business of issuing liquor licenses to sell real estate, or to provide a service to our tourists (and help a local business)?