The Little Rock Board of Directors agreed Tuesday to vote next week on a proposal to regulate the city's clubs that serve alcohol until 5 a.m. The ordinance would create a probation system for problem clubs.
If passed, the new regulations would apply only to establishments that both hold a state permit allowing alcohol to be served until 5 a.m. and also actually operate past 2 a.m. Any club with a 5 a.m. permit that self-elects to close by 2 a.m. would be exempt from the ordinance, it states.
Though 13 permits exist in Little Rock, just nine belong to operating bars or clubs. They are: Midtown Billiards, Electric Cowboy, Club Elevations, Discovery, Triniti, Salut, Paper Moon, Jazzi's and the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. The first five are in an association that lobbied against the city board limiting club hours as a first step to reducing late-night crime at the establishments.
Of the clubs with active 5 a.m. permits, Jazzi's chooses to close by 3 a.m. every day and the Eagles club rarely stays open past midnight, its owner said.
The ordinance presented to the board Tuesday is the result of negotiations between the club industry and City Directors Brad Cazort and Gene Fortson, who have led the board's efforts to address what they perceive as a public safety problem at the clubs. The proposal also incorporates the 5 a.m. club ordinance proposed by City Manager Bruce Moore earlier this year.
The compromise was reached in an effort to not have two competing ordinances before the board for a vote.
The biggest consequence of the ordinance is that it would create a path to probation for unruly clubs and a way to make them close earlier than 5 a.m. if problems continue.
The ordinance states that "numerous incidents" occurring inside or outside a club -- or on adjacent properties controlled by the club in the form of an agreement or contract -- could constitute grounds for it to be declared a nuisance. That could also cause the club to have its state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board license suspended.
If numerous felonies were reported, the police chief would review the incidents and if he concludes they are "from a lack of reasonable security measures or improper operations," he could put the club on probation. Probation would include making the club close earlier, though not earlier than 3 a.m., for a period of time not to exceed two months.
If a club is put on probation twice in a one-year period, the probation would be for a minimum of two months.
All decisions by the police chief may be appealed to the city manager, whose decision would be final. A former version of the ordinance included a lengthier appeal process that gave the Board of Directors the final say.
Other requirements under the ordinance include security staffing mandates. Any 5 a.m. club that operates past midnight on Friday, Saturday, state-recognized holidays or during special events would have to have at least two certified law enforcement officers stationed outside from midnight until closing on those nights. If the club already employs more than two certified officers as parking-lot security, it would be required to keep its current amount and could not lower it without Police Chief Kenton Buckner's approval.
Moore's ordinance originally required clubs to also have the minimum security staff on Thursdays, too.
Attorney Justin Allen, who represents the association of five of the clubs, asked that staffing on Thursday not be required.
"I recognize that we previously relented on Thursday when working with Bruce, but not for a lack of trying. None of my clubs currently have an off-duty [officer] on Thursday because the traffic simply doesn't justify it," Allen wrote in an email sent to Cazort and Fortson, according to a copy obtained by the newspaper under the state Freedom of Information Act.
The ordinance before the board would also require clubs to employ an "adequate" number of security inside the club, but they would not have to be certified.
A club would have to maintain "adequate" exterior lighting and video surveillance equipment on property owned or controlled by it. The chief shall determine what adequate is.
The ordinance states that clubs must comply with these mandates "within a reasonable period of time" determined by the chief.
Next week's city board meeting is on a Monday at 6 p.m. rather than the normal Tuesday because of National Night Out events. National Night Out events often serve as a way for the community to become better acquainted with law enforcement.
In addition to the 5 a.m. clubs ordinance, the board is also scheduled to vote on whether to approve a Murphy USA gas station at Cantrell Road and Taylor Loop. Neighborhood groups around the area are opposed to the station, but the city's Planning Commission and staff recommend approval.
The board also plans to vote on the Junior League of Little Rock's request to replace its historic windows. State preservationists argued that the league should instead repair the windows and said they would move to have the building at Fourth and Scott streets removed from the National Register of Historic Places if the league didn't keep the original material. Moore told the board Tuesday that he's hopeful the parties will come to an agreement before Monday's meeting.
Metro on 10/01/2014