Drunkards unite!: Public hearing on bar hours set for Monday
November 21, 2009 at 11:29 am by Scott Henry in News
Veteran imbiber Tom Houck, a man I’ve never seen without a cocktail in his hand, has been e-mail blasting all of Atlanta to attend a public hearing to discuss bar hours that’s scheduled for 6 p.m. this coming Monday at City Hall.
The hearing was called to give the nightclub set its own dedicated forum to discuss the merits of a recent proposal by Councilman Kwanza “Tweeter” Hall to reconsider the city-mandated 2:30 a.m. last call, which was adopted in 2003, before Hall joined Council.
If you miss this hearing, don’t expect to be allowed to speak on the issue at the following week’s Finance Committee meeting, says Chairman Howard Shook, who called for Monday’s forum to exclusively address bar hours.
Of course, we don’t need to wait until Monday to find out what Mayor Shirley Franklin thinks of Hall’s proposal. She’s quoted in a story in today’s AJC, but here’s the entire text of her commentary, which was sent to Council members:
Hall’s proposed legislation isn’t sound public policy. It is a publicity stunt, a gimmick.
It may play well in some segments of the population but it doesn’t make sense for our city as there is greater demand for public safety services to patrol street, save lives and prevent crime. Whether there is money to be made or not, the expansion of hours will stretch Atlanta’s current public safety resources. This proposal comes from a Council member who didn’t vote in 2008 or 2009 to restore full public safety funding.
I enjoy lively nightlife as much as anyone but public safety should be the city’s top priority. Until the APD force is at least 2000 officers and Atlanta’s crime rate ranking is below the top 100 in the country, stretching the resources for a few bucks isn’t sound policy. As I leave office my opinion remains the same. Use APD resources wisely, build the force, invest in training and leadership.
S Franklin
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
November 21st, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Is it a coincidence that Mary allowed as Kwanza might have a good point on extending bar hours and Shirley slams it as a lousy idea?
November 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Living in a neighborhood with several obnoxious nightclubs — C’berry Hill — I can tell you that closing at 2:30AM means people don’t leave the area till 3:30AM. A 4 AM closing will mean you will have drunks on the streets till at least 5AM. Do we really need that? And I am pretty tired of people telling me and my neighbors what we should tolerate when they do not live here. Just ask our neighborhood cops… they don’t want this either. It will just stretch their already thin ranks, and the any paltry tax windfall from this dumb idea will be absorbed by the cost of more law enforcement.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
That’s the most sensible thing I’ve read from Franklin in a while. I’m actually feeling good about my Mayor right now. It’s a funny feeling. I like it.
Have there been any reports published about the positive economic impacts to a city of extended bar hours? I just Google ‘economic impact bar hours’ and only found reports on the economic impact of alcohol abuse and drunk driving. Goofy old search engine — probably doesn’t own a bar.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Darin– thats what the whole proposal is about, doing a study to investigate what the public safety and the economic implications would be to extending the hours. There arent reports unless a study is done first. Thats all Hall asked for, not an actualy change to the hours but just an evaluation of what impact the hours cutting has had.
November 21st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
And instead of calling them ‘extended bar hours’, lets call them normal bar hours, and the current limits are ‘reduced bar hours.’
Have there been any reports showing a correlation between reduced bar hours and public safety? I did a google search for ”public safety bar hours” but couldnt find any studies.
November 21st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
There’s nothing wrong with conducting a study of the issue, particularly as it relates to creating enhanced special enterainment districts and giving neighborhoods to set guidelines for the operation of liquor licences including closing hours.
Nadia, Castleberry Hill only has a problem now because Mayor Franklin and Chief Pennington, with the support of Mary Norwood caved in to Buckhead real estate and business interests and shut down Atlanta’s nightlife without a plan for something else.
I support your efforts in maintaining a safe and vibrant neighborhood, but you’re missing the point. A soulution could have been worked out years ago, but the mayor chose not to.
Instead of enhancing bar, restaurant and nightclub operating hours in appropriate areas..they rolled back the clock for everyone..Never really considering the consequences as it relates to lost tourist and convention business as well as capitalization upun this city’s former reputation as a city that was attractive to young educated upwardly mobile 20 somethings..
Just think, thye had a chance to clean up Underground Atlanta and al of the derelict areas around and near 5 points by creating incentives to move the party downtown…Insted, they shut down the party in Buckhead by their request and a portion of it moved into your neighborhood.
I don’t begrudge young people having their fun…all night long, and into the wee hours of the morning…or even 7 am if they choose.
It shouldn’t interfere with your right to enjoy your loft/condo home.
A 2:30 am closing time may be appropriate for your neighborhood…along with limiting numbers of establishments or proximity, but it’s NOT a solution that is appropriate for downtown.
It’s not a one size fit’s all problem and it deserves more than a one size fits all solution.
I think that if we could al agree to that, we might be able to help develop a win win soluton for everyone.
As far as I’m concerned, Franklin and Pennington had their chance..they screwed it up with a penney ante and lazy approach …They are on their way out….Good riddance
November 21st, 2009 at 4:09 pm
“Just think, thye had a chance to clean up Underground Atlanta and al of the derelict areas around and near 5 points by creating incentives to move the party downtown”"
But they did put in incentives to move the party to underground. It is an example of the special entertainment districts that people always suggest as a great new idea. Of course, the neighborhoods always interpret ”appropriate places for nightlife” to mean ‘not in my neighborhood.’
What happens when you move the party to, as you say, ‘derelict areas near 5 points.’ If you clean those areas up, they will get nicer, eventually developers will put condos and lofts there, and then the new higher scale neighbors will complain about the nightlife that brought the area up in the first place. Its the same thing that is happening in Midtown. The whole motto of midtown was “live, work, play.” Nightlife was part of the attraction.
A couple years ago, castleberry hills probably would have been your definition of ‘derelict area near five points.’
November 21st, 2009 at 4:19 pm
And let me add this: Nobody in Buckhead seriously complained about Buckhead nightlife until the black crowd started going there.
The only places in Midtown that receive complaints are Bulldogs, Shout, and the new Visions. Hrmm, they are the only clubs in the area that cater to the black crowd. Look at how much support The Eagle got, compared to how many times the neighborhood has complained about Bulldogs.
Opera, sutra, cosmolava, flip flops… Nope, no complaints. But when a black club wants to open all of a sudden Midtown has the idea of ”lets open up a special entertainment district in the neighborhoods downtown.”
November 21st, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hey Justin… No offense, but this has nothing to do with race. I live across the street from Bulldogs and my neighbors — black and white — are tired of the music blasting from cars and screaming patrons. Every night at closing time, they just move the party to the street. And as far as I know, the main complaints about Vision were crime related. This is not a racial issue, it’s an issue of common courtesy.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
VC: I realize that, but close residents similarly complained about The Eagle. Yet, there was huge support for the Eagle, and if anyone threatened to close it there would be outrage. How could the eagle be different than bulldogs? Why would people so adamantly support The Eagle yet want to evict bulldogs…
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:02 am
You gotta love Shirley Franklin calling this a “publicity stunt.” After all, for much of this fall, publicity stunts in the form of “tributes” have been staged in her honor by former city of Atlanta employees whom she placed in plum outside jobs once they failed in their city jobs; current city contractors; and those members of the development community who have been most favored by her administration.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:06 am
Justin… You are talking about the bar patrons and staff. THEY are the ones who rallied behind the bar when the neighbors complained and they worked to fix the problems. Plus, the rally that was recently held at the Eagle was NOT for keeping the bar open, but protesting an absurd abuse of police power.
If the patrons and staff of Bulldogs think that they are being singled out unfairly, then they should rally and prove us all wrong. I have yet to see that.
And as far as the neighbors vs. The Eagle, that bar went out of its way to limit the noise and problems that occurred around their premises. Bulldogs REFUSES to work with its neighbors.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
VC: remember when this happened: http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/2056/1/Atlanta-Police-Target-Black-Gay-Leather-Party/Page1.html
Black leather party in midtown raided by undercover police who acted extremely disrespectfully but made no arrests? No, I didnt think you remembered it. Because there was no protest, no swelling of support. Why not?
ALL the white bars in the area ‘work with the neighbors.’ ALL the black bars in the area DONT work with the neighbors. If it were just one bar, I would assume it was the bars fault and it was a coincidence that it happened to be a black bar. But when its systematic, and its EVERY black bar in the area has problems with neighbors whereas NO white bars in the area have problems, you have to suspect maybe its a little deeper than a coincidence.