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GETTING LOUD OVER LIQUOR
CITY OF VICTORIA STAYS THE COURSE
Council voted on May 26th to deny a request that would have permitted bars in Victoria to remain open until 2 a.m. rather than the current 1 a.m. As in the past, bars cannot sell liquor after 1:00 a.m. in the City of Victoria.
More exactly, the ordinance amend-ment remains as written and states that intoxicating liquor shall not be sold by any on-sale licensee any day between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
The public hearing and subsequent discussion lasted over an hour on that rainy Thursday evening. "This request of ordinance change is from the bar owners," began Mayor Jerry Bohn, who then invit-ed people to speak to the issue.
Stated Tom Gray, "I'm a resident of Victoria and I'd request that Council not change the ordinance. People who hang out at bars at that time of night tend to consume a lot of alcohol." Tom said he and his wife believe the streets will be safer without extended bar hours.
Tom Walsh, a resident of Victoria, was present to speak in favor of the extended 2 a.m. closing and mentioned he had no objections to the music at Floyd's Bar.
Craig Lynn, owner of Schmitty's Bar, said, "I'd like a level playing field. Other towns in Carver County are open until 2 a.m. Our full menu is available until closing time."
Lois Plocher, owner of Floyd's Bar, said, "My request was for Saturday and Sunday evenings only. Our patio would still be closed at 12 midnight. We take classes and watch our crowd. We serve food until 2 a.m. We belong to Sober Cab. By closing us at 1 a.m. will not keep people away from other places until 2 a.m."
Bud Olson had been invited to speak as Sheriff of Carver County. He attended with Chief Deputy Rob Vandenbroeke. "What I've seen in other experiences is limited," said the Sheriff, "and there's such a limited amount of information available. I'd ask what kind of standards do you want for your community? The focus of the state legislature was for convention business in downtown Minne-apolis and St. Paul."
Bud referred to some numbers that are available from a community that showed 7 calls for police service over a 3-year period from the hours of 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
"These calls were not directly related to bars," he said. "It's not what I would consider a real difficult issue to manage. I don't see having to add policing hours to deal with this. There are anecdotal stories in the community of people drinking pop in that last open hour. We do have a re-sponsible host of bar owners in the com-munity. I've been pleased with their re-sponsibility."
Asked Councilmember Terry Bishop, "Do bar owners associations contribute to the Sheriff's Department?"
Replied Sheriff Bud Olson, "I'm not sure about that. I'll look into that for you."
Councilmember Bishop referred to the large percentage of alcohol related incidents reported and the number of incidents that might be occurring away from our own community after bar patrons have left.
He continued, "Ninety percent of the people who drink and drive do not get caught. People know they can drink and drive at certain hours and not get caught. The responsibility still lies with the people who drink and drive. If one person gets hurt because of drinking after 1 a.m., that's one too many."
Sheriff Olson agreed, "There is an issue out there in the community. There is a risk out there because of people who drink and drive and put other people at risk."
Councilmember Kim Roden thanked the Sheriff for gathering data for consider-ation. "And thank you to the people who contacted me," she continued. "About a dozen people contacted me. Only one was willing to support the 2 a.m. closing. I've had a lot of strong reaction against it. People who contacted me who live in town were probably the most vocal."
Added Councilmember Bishop, "I've also received emails and phone calls. They were unanimously against it [the extension to 2 a.m. closing]. One caller stated that there is no economic reason for the city to do this. I do not want this to be known as a bar friendly town between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. I don't want that to be a community standard, a community value. I will never, not ever, vote in favor of this."
Then Councilmember Richard Tieden referred to information and statements he had gathered regarding this issue. "I also received calls from people opposed to this," he said, "some of them concerned about the noise."
He then referred to the fact that the owners at Floyd's have worked to ensure compliance with various city requests and concerns over the past years, and he cited reasons for the 2 a.m. closing in the metro area, allowed by the state legislature.
"The Minnesota statute allows this since 2003. Once approved at the state level, someone can apply for the exten-sion," said Richard. "The Minneapolis Convention Center had trouble competing with other centers in the country, so they lobbied and they passed this amendment to the statute."
He listed some area cities that have allowed the 2 a.m. bar closing: Carver, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Chaska, Shako-pee, Waconia. He said that St. Boni and Shorewood retain the 1 a.m. closing.
"The State of Minnesota could have said 2 a.m. for the entire seven-county metro area, but they didn't. So they've created a disparity, so Lois [Floyd's Bar] is asking to be competitive, like others. We've inherited this situation. It really is unfair. The legislature tried to eliminate unfairness on the national level, and now we have it on the local level."
Richard then referred to the issue of public safety and to his personal work in that area setting up drug treatment pro-grams, rehabilitation components and DWI situations, and the fact that the new blood alcohol limit is becoming .08 rather than 1.0.
"Yes, Bud Olson's stories are anec-dotal," said Richard, "but there has not been a change in incidents related to the 2 a.m. closings. Officers are, instead, seeing a rise in DWI's during rush hour traffic." He explained that some drivers wait out that time in bars.
"I've talked to County Attorney Mike Fahey. He doesn't know that there is a difference between the 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. closings. I've talked to Chaska Police Chief Knight and he didn't see a difference from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m."
Loud Over Liquor continued.
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