‘Nightlife Initiative’ update: Still pursuing ‘flexible’ liquor hours

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In a week with few other official government events, Mayor McGinn briefed the media tonight on the status of the “Nightlife Initiative“ he announced in July. The full status report is here (PDF). Many of the components only affect other parts of the city, but of note citywide, the proposal to pursue “flexible liquor-service hours” – such as later cutoff times – is still in play. Discussing the results of 2,400 comments tallied on the initiative, the mayor’s report says “… more than 80 percent of online respondents agreed or strongly agreed that, ‘Extending service hours will make our streets safer.'” The city acknowledges it would need to develop a proposal to present to the state, and says that the guidelines for “exploring” the idea would include:

Conditional license
1. Privilege for bar owners
2. Started as a pilot
3. Use of data throughout the process
4. Reduces police resources
5. Resolution of City Council needed for adoption

As for existing rules, the report includes an update on what the city’s interdepartmental Code Compliance Team is finding. Citywide, the number of businesses where sales/consumption of alcohol is allowed rose 18 percent in 2010, the report says, from 1,497 in 2009 to 1,766 in 2010. Fewer than 1 in 7 had “noncompliance issues”; of those, the Southwest Precinct (West Seattle/South Park) area had the smallest number – 10 – and the report says 9 of those fixed the problems, with 1 still a work in progress. Meantime, the report also notes a new law that’s about to take effect:

The Nighttime Disturbance Ordinance was passed by the City Council on August 2, 2010. It creates a new civil infraction for loud noise, threats or fighting that occur in a public place in a commercial or industrial zone between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. The noise provisions of the ordinance were approved by the Department of Ecology in November and SPD is currently conducting officer training on the ordinance. Enforcement will begin in January 2011.

Again, you can read the entire Nightlife Initiative report here.

k2 December 29, 2010 (8:59 am)

I completely agree, think about belltown or pioneer sq. at 2AM. the streets are covered with drunk people who just got kicked out of the bars, and then trouble starts…you never have problems like that in NYC since you can drink all night…people will get tired and go home before they all converge in the middle of the street and fight or shoot each other.

NOW if we can just get better public transport to take all those drunks home…

JB December 29, 2010 (12:47 pm)

Or conversely, one bar closes and the majority of the drunks head to the bars that are still open. Once there, they stand outside because the bar is full. Then they fight and shoot each other there. How about we buy some vans and extra handcuffs, arrest the miscreants, and throw them in the drunk tank overnight. Let’s make them pay a hefty fine at discharge and turn their bad behavior into a revenue stream. Maybe provide a conditional dismissal to repeat offenders who enroll in an alcohol abuse counseling program. Let’s quit coddling these losers. Nightlife my @$&, I’ve seen these people up close and they are thugs at worst and alcoholics at best.

Travs December 29, 2010 (1:25 pm)

JB you are delusional. Thanks, though, for generalizing every person that leaves a bar at 2am as losers and thugs. You didn’t read the initiative did you? The new guidelines are being set up to allow the police to prevent things from escalating to violence and to keep the police on the streets, where they need to be, instead of dealing with arresting and processing people for minor infractions. The amount of man power it would take to arrest every ‘thug and loser’ on the streets is not even close to a reality and a waste of resources.
I’ve worked in the local nightlife community my, entire, adult life and I have seen these people up close on a daily basis. Most are not causing any problems, but often get caught in the middle of trouble just by being present outside a club, bar, or music venue. We, the nightlife community, have been working with the city and the police for years to come up with better and safer ways to deal with an influx of people on the streets at 2am. This goes far beyond a very small percentage of people who get into fights. K2 is right. We do need to provide safer ways for these people to get home and transit is one of the things that’s been discussed. Unfortunately, with people voting against any kind of tax on anything, and Metro having to cut out bus routes because of the budget, increasing late night bus service is, currently, not an option.
JB I suggest you read the measures the city is trying to develop to increase safety rather than assume that every person that frequents an adult establishment, at night, is a thug or loser. Oh, you didn’t mean everyone? Well, your generalization reads as everyone. Our nightlife provide a huge amount of income and jobs for the people of our community. Thankfully, uninformed people like you are few and far between and your opinions will remain just that.
Thank you Mayor McGinn, the City Council, and the SPD for, finally, working with the nightlife community to keep people safe and provide revenue for the city and those that work in this community.

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