An ordinance that puts pressure on bars, restaurants and clubs that violate underage drinking laws is one step closer to becoming law after the Gainesville City Commission unanimously passed its first reading at a meeting Thursday.
The ordinance allows the city to prohibit establishments that rack up violations from admitting patrons younger than 21 between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. The commission will meet again on Feb. 5 to decide the ordinance's fate in the final reading.
"These are only establishments that, in the realm of their responsibility, have engaged in illegal acts," said Commissioner Jack Donovan, who acted as mayor pro tempore in Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan's absence.
Assistant City Attorney Stephanie Marchman told commissioners the ordinance is not a wide-sweeping ban and is the least restrictive approach possible.
If the ordinance was in place today, only 12 of the city's 400 alcohol-serving establishments would be affected, she said in a phone interview before the meeting.
Underage drinking in bars and restaurants in downtown and midtown are putting a strain on the Gainesville Police Department's staff and budget, said GPD Capt. Lonnie Scott. Last year, these establishments represented 439 of the 766 incidents.
"The problem is not going to go away unless we take a more progressive approach," he said.
The GPD pays a permanent staff of five officers $300,000 each year to monitor a three-block downtown area, said GPD spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg.
During busy weekends, the department enlists officers for downtown's Neighborhood Enforcement Initiative and midtown's Operations Bureau.
Staffing these patrols requires overtime payment to officers, a sum that increases each year as Gainesville grows.
In 2005, the department staffed the area with the five officers.
In 2006, the city added overtime officers for an additional cost of $22,000. The next year, in 2007, overtime went up to $75,000.
In 2008, overtime and staff cost the city nearly half a million dollars, a sum that only applies to downtown patrols-not midtown.
Considering that GPD's budget only allots $30 million for staff and services, a disproportionate amount is spent on patrols to monitor bars and clubs, Kameg said.
"Something's got to give," he said. "No one is stepping up to the plate to help fund the services we're giving."
Gainesville residents told commissioners that the ordinance would hurt more than it would help. A dozen opponents protested outside the meeting.
UF Student Government External Affairs Director Matt Goldberger spoke on behalf of Student Body President Kevin Reilly and said the ordinance would have negative effects like an increased market for fake IDs and more unregulated house parties with underage drinking.
Robert Zeller, a co-owner of Grog House, XS, the Copper Monkey and Gator City said the ordinance would violate his property rights and due process to fight a prohibition. He also said the ordinance doesn't protect owners from fake ID users who try to fraudulently enter a bar.
"I'm getting demonized by this city," Zeller said.
