A new liquor license will allow specialty grocery stores, specifically Inboden’s Meats, 1106 N. First St., to sell packaged beer and wine.

The Class D-D license will cost $5,000 for the first year and $3,000 each following year, the text of the amendment to the municipal code stated.

The DeKalb City Council passed the amendment unanimously on Monday night. Fourth Ward Alderman Mike Knowlton abstained.

City Attorney Norma Guess said the license had some strict limitations attached to it.

The definition of speciality grocery stores limits this license to Inboden’s Meats, Guess said. The stores must be licensed as a meat establishment by the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

City Planner Ray Keller presented the council with unrelated news about DeKalb’s comprehensive plan update.

The update process began in 2002 and brought together community workshop input, presentations and an online questionnaire to come to recommendations for the update, Keller said.

“In putting together recommendations we had examined building trends as well as demographics,” Keller said.

Some council members showed concern about specifics contained in the update.

Third Ward Alderman Steve Kapitan said his main concern was the abandonment of a project to link Dresser Road to Twombly Road.

“We are doing so with the short-term benefit of commercial development for long-term traffic problems,” Kapitan said.

Second Ward Alderman Kris Povlsen agreed.

One commercial project, in this case a grocery store, should not determine the traffic situation 30 years down the road, Povlsen said.

In other business the council approved awarding the $4 million Macom Drive improvement project to Rockford Blacktop Construction Company.

The city will pay $700,000 of the project’s cost. The rest of the money will come from state grants and developer revenue, City Manager Mark Biernacki said.