A bar in St. Augustine. | News4Jax
Published on August 21, 2023 at 3:47 pm
A proposal to mandate that late-night bars get permits to operate is headed back to the St. Augustine City Commission for another review.
Monday’s unanimous commision decision followed more than an hour of public comments at a workshop that let residents and bar owners air their pros and cons about nightspots that stay open from midnight until 2 a.m.
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The proposal would mandate that any downtown bar owner secure a permit to remain open during those hours, as well as have proper security. They also would need at least one server trained in the signs of alcohol abuse and Florida law.
Similar ideas have been raised in the past but failed to get a vote or make it past a first reading before the commission. So the decision was made to hold Monday’s workshop for community feedback after many business owners contended the city was not involving them in the process.
Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline reminded the audience and others that approval Monday meant only that the proposal goes back to the commission for initial review, with no public hearing until later in the process.
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Commissioner Jim Springfield said that what he heard from people who spoke at Monday’s workshop was a “demand from the public and the businesses” to handle the problems that happen at night. He urged moving forward with a new review of the proposed ordinance.
“We need to make a commitment as a city that we try to do what we can to move forward,” Springfield said. “The more we can do to enforce, the calls will go up, the arrests will go up, just like they have when we start working on more DUIs, and that’s a good thing because enforcement will result in people being arrested, and if we pass this ordinance, businesses being held accountable.”
The proposed ordinance would not “roll up the streets at night and nobody’s there,” Commissioner Barbara Blonder said before the vote. It would just make the city “respectful to all who live and work” there, she said.
“This is not closing down any business. It is not causing a business to lose money to act responsibly and have the expectation to conduct business responsibly,” Blonder said. “It is simply a permit, and a fairly low-cost permit. It is training that you would want to have anyway if you are a responsible establishment. It could, if done right, provide a balance in our community between having an actual livable community where people can live downtown.”
The idea of restricting late-night business was first suggested about two years ago because of overconsumption after hours in the downtown area.
As it stands now, alcohol sales are allowed until 2 a.m., with last call at 1:30 a.m. But the proposed nightlife ordinance says late-night partying has led to more police calls, more trash, drunken behavior and people relieving themselves in public. The proposed ordinance would mandate that bars close at midnight unless they get a permit for alcohol sales between midnight and 2 a.m.
The city manager would review each application to ensure that the bar has proof that at least one of its servers has completed a Responsible Beverage Service Program. The program teaches about the effects of alcohol on the body, the dangers of combining alcohol and other drugs, ways to cut off service to troublesome customers and state laws regarding drunken driving and alcohol sales to minors.
The proposal on the permit requirement reached the commission last month but did not get enough votes to move forward. City officials then set up Monday’s workshop so the five-member commission could hear ideas from residents and business owners to determine whether to reintroduce the proposal.
Right now, only about 27 of the 100-plus establishments in St. Augustine’s downtown stay open past midnight, city officials said Monday. Blonder reminded the audience that any bar cited for violating the proposed permit would get “another couple of chances to fix it and they don’t get their permit revoked,”
Ultimately, the mayor said more needs to be done when she hears from some bar owners that patrons walk into their establishments with a drink already in hand.
“Who let them out of their venue with a drink in their hand? How did they get out,” Sikes-Kline asked. “Just like everyone in this room probably who has been here any length of time, this town has changed very, very much, and this is what we are struggling with now is the new normal. It sounds like everyone here supports moving this to the first reading.”
So far, the cost of the permit has not been established. City Planning and Building Director Amy Skinner said it could be between $25 and $100, to cover administrative costs.
Some commissioners also passed on safety concerns about being in downtown St. Augustine late at night that might be addressed in the ordinance, or before it gets considered. That included finding ways to improve street lighting in the downtown area and better enforcement of open container laws. There also were discussions about how to handle the noise ordinance if bars get too noisy for neighbors and whether St. Augustine police or city code enforcement staff would enforce the ordinance after midnight.
The proposed ordinance could come before the City Commission on Sept. 11 for a first reading.
