The Gainesville Public Safety Committee decided Wednesday to ask the City Commission to let downtown food trucks and other vendors stay open until 3 a.m. and to let businesses sell alcohol on a parking lot there.
The committee decided to recommend that alcohol sales be allowed on a parking lot at Southwest First Avenue and Northwest Second Street. This exception would allow people to drink while on that parking lot.
Events like Fest, a yearly Gainesville music festival, would be able to sell alcohol on that lot when it comes to town. Alcohol sales would bring in a bit more revenue, which would be an incentive to keep ticket prices low, said Tony Weinbender, Fest founder.
If the commission passes the change, Weinbender said he wants to hold a smaller event around Mother’s Day to test the exception and the alcohol sales.
The committee also discussed what the city could do about noise that comes from outdoor downtown concerts near homes.
City Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa, the chair of the committee, said a concert in early fall rattled the windows of houses nearby with loud music and offensive lyrics, including profanity.
“There is a logistics issue before there is a moral issue,” Mastrodicasa said.
Ronald Combs, counsel for the committee, made a list of how Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton handle outside concert noise.
Mastrodicasa said the committee first talked about outside concert noise and food vendors downtown in November 2011.
The committee didn’t make a motion about the noise from outdoor concerts.
Contact Ben Brasch at bbrasch@alligator.org.
