The Battle Over the Plummer House
Mayor Ronald blocks a city ordinance that would have extended liquor limits to a specific building, sparking a public outcry from residents and churchgoers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mayor Ronald returned House of Delegates Bill No. 214, which would have extended the saloon limits in Seattle, without his approval. The ordinance would have permitted the sale of intoxicating liquors in the building known as the Plummer House, which sits near five churches and the local armory. The Mayor noted that over 3,000 citizens had protested the extension, compared to only four persons—mostly those with a financial interest—who spoke in favor. He argued that it is the part of wisdom to keep vices confined to the smallest possible limits consistent with public policy and that this specific ordinance smacked of 'gerrymandering' and 'class legislation'.
“It should not, therefore, when avoidable, be permitted to encroach upon the area of residences or even of other commercial business.”
The struggle over the 'Plummer House' and the limits of where liquor could be sold echoes modern debates about zoning, public nuisance, and the power of neighborhood character versus commercial interests in a rapidly densifying downtown Seattle.
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