- September 12, 2024
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With a heightened sense of urgency, the city of Bradenton is moving forward with an ordinance regulating alcohol sales at bars after midnight. Between now and mid-October, bar owners must apply for a permit if they want to serve alcohol between 12 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.
Councilmembers passed the legislation Aug. 14 — despite the fact that many bar owners still need to be informed they will be required to have an after-midnight permit and in spite of council members disagreeing with a closing time. At a future meeting, the Bradenton City Council plans to change closing time from 2:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.
“This is us doing something to try to make it a safer place,” Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown said during the meeting. “We’ve got to start somewhere.”
The council unanimously passed the after-midnight ordinance to promote public safety, after officials said citizens and business owners asked the city to take action given recent incidents.
“I want something done, and I want it done now,” City Councilwoman Jayne Kocher said at the council meeting, where police played multiple bodycam videos showing mobs police officers handled outside bars downtown in the past year.
Among them was an incident May 12 between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue that officials said required the entire Bradenton Police Department to control. Police could not take any other calls for service due to the response required.
“It’s a catastrophic situation waiting to happen if we don’t get our arms around this,” Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan said. “I have officers out there in harm’s way. They were outgunned, outnumbered. That was a dangerous situation.”
If something were not done, Bevan and council members suggested people may die. In fact, police said days after the after-midnight ordinance was first introduced in July, two people were shot and injured at a bar in the 400 block of 12th Street. That shooting occurred shortly after midnight, according to police.
In footage from recent incidents not shown, the mayor said people could be seen grabbing for officers’ guns. Weapons were often confiscated during the incidents, the city administrator added.
“This is not Bradenton,” Kocher said. “We don’t want to ever see this again.”
The Bradenton Police Department proposed the after-midnight permit to address the “increase in violent and criminal activity” and an "increase in other issues related to public safety and crowd control" after 12 a.m., according to the ordinance.
Two bar owners said they were worried about public safety but also expressed concerns about the legislation, during a public hearing on the ordinance.
“We as business owners want a safe downtown just as much as you all do,” James Miller, owner of Cork’s Cigar Bar on 12th Street West, said. He recalled meeting with police years ago in an effort to promote public safety. “We did not want an Ybor City, and that was our exact terminology. And here we are today going down that path — which we want to, with you, stop.”
That said, Miller told the council he wished business owners had been included in drafting the legislation and said he would like to see it sunset after a year.
Another bar owner also said he thought the city needed to consider business owners more.
“I’m concerned this is being rushed through,” said Joseph Bennett, owner and operator of Pour Decisions, Craftails, Bamboozer and a market coming soon. He said he wanted the city to identify the costs business owners would need to incur and noted he was worried about staff being able to generate income after midnight.
Bennett’s attorney, Nicole MacInnes, said during the public hearing that the ordinance was “not consistent with Florida law” because it did not contain a business impact statement outlining what implementation would cost business owners. (A statute that took effect this year requires ordinances to include statements outlining how many businesses would be affected and in what ways.)
“I think what we did is compliant with the statute, but there could be arguments both ways,” City Attorney Scott Rudacille said.
Bradenton officials said the ordinance was modeled on a similar measure in Orlando, which began requiring after-midnight permits in May 2023.
The ordinance that passed in Bradenton allows bar owners 60 days from Aug. 14 to apply for an after-midnight permit. Brown proposed waiving the fees for the permit for all existing bar owners, a move the council adopted. It was not determined what the fee would be moving forward. In Orlando, it is $250 a year.
The police chief, meanwhile, said she plans to meet with bar owners to educate them that they need to get a permit if they want to sell alcohol after midnight.
“We will personally meet with every bar within the city,” Bevan said. She noted every bar in the city can obtain the permit. “It’s our position that everybody starts fresh.”
To get the permit, a business must fill out an application with information like the name of the owner, occupancy, name of a responsible person and type of liquor license. Those granted after-midnight permits will be provided with mandatory window decals that include hours of operation, occupancy and expiration of the after-midnight permit.
Entities selling alcohol for consumption off premises as well as civic auditoriums and sports arenas do not need after-midnight permits.
Under the ordinance, all after-midnight permit-holders must keep a count of their customers after 10 p.m. and provide that information to police if asked.
In some cases, the chief of police may require state-licensed security personnel inside the business applying for an after-midnight permit, based on occupancy, type of liquor license and history of violent incidents at an establishment. A weapons detection system could also be required. Identification scanners may be mandatory for some businesses that have a history of permitting underage drinking, according to the ordinance.
While businesses have 60 days to apply for the after-midnight permit, Bevan said she wanted the criminal sanctions to take effect immediately. That means a permit may be suspended if an establishment is the site of a homicide or if it knowingly allows violations of weapons, sexual battery or controlled and dangerous substance laws. If there are multiple cases of assault, disorderly conduct, battery, noise violations, gambling, weapons violations or controlled and dangerous substances in a three-month period, the business may have its after-midnight permit suspended for 30 days. Three suspensions within a 12-month period would lead to a revocation.
“Our goal is to work with our business owners,” Bevan said. “Let them make money, [and] let us not have to be out there all the time dealing with issues or problems.”
