DeKalb to roll back bar hours?

When it comes to late-night drinking, DeKalb County could be going the slightly more sober way of Atlanta.

A proposal that’s scheduled to be heard tomorrow by the DeKalb Commission calls for bar-closing times in the county to be rolled back — from current last calls of 4 a.m. Monday through Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday through Sunday, to a much stricter 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and midnight Sunday.

That’s 14 fewer bar hours per week.

According to the proposed ordinance, which was drafted by Commissioner Jeff Rader:

DeKalb County desires to improve the quality of life in all of its communities and neighborhoods by minimizing late night crime, loitering and other deleterious conduct associated with the presence of retail establishments that sell and serve alcoholic beverages.

The timing of the proposal coincides with neighbors’ concerns about an influx of nightclubs into north DeKalb — including megaclub the Velvet Room and Jermaine Dupri’s swanky Studio 72 — that resemble the now-shuttered clubs of Buckhead’s tumultuous party era.

The city of Atlanta’s closing times once were consistent with DeKalb’s — until 2004, when Atlanta City Council slashed bar hours following a series of fatal bar brawls. If DeKalb follows suit, that could stem an influx of bars that had banked on later last calls; under the proposed ordinance, DeKalb’s bars would close a half-hour earlier than Atlanta’s most nights.

The proposal — which would take effect Jan. 1, 2008 — would not affect bars in the city of Decatur, including Azul, which hosts the wildly popular Friday night dance party Decatur Social Club.