Orlando commissioners recently debated ending after-midnight alcohol sales in the city’s downtown district in an effort to improve nightlife safety.
The city currently utilizes a permit system for after-midnight alcohol service, along with spending an extra $6 million on police downtown, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
Most Orlando commissioners are not in favor of ending after-midnight alcohol service downtown, despite the city exploring options to improve nightlife safety.
Commissioners Patty Sheehan, Bakari Burns, Tony Ortiz, and Shan Rose indicated they were against shutting down after-midnight service during a workshop on May 19th. However, Sheehan did say she thought businesses needed to do more to help control the environment downtown after the clock strikes midnight.
Commissioners Robert Stuart and Jim Gray indicated that they are in favor of stopping alcohol sales from midnight to 2 AM. Still, Gray also commented that he was open to other ideas on how to continue after-midnight sales safely.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he wanted to hear from commissioners and stakeholders before deciding on what comes next for after-midnight alcohol service.
The workshop presented the most recent statistics to commissioners as the city considers new options for controlling issues with “the perception of crime downtown.” The Orlando City Council has already put several initiatives in place, including a permit requirement for businesses that serve alcohol after midnight and opening Orange Avenue to vehicle traffic on weekend nights after closing the street for pedestrians in the past.
An after-midnight service permit is tied to a business’s capacity and is used to help fund extra police officers downtown. It led to a legal challenge from several downtown nightlife businesses against the city and Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith, which is currently ongoing.
On average, Orlando has 81 to 131 police officers downtown on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The city cites its cost for more police at $6 million, with the after-midnight permit providing $1.6 million toward those costs and the city’s community redevelopment agency paying the rest. City officials are determining how it might absorb these costs, since the current budget comes from a pilot program and will eventually shift to a general fund.
Rose spoke to OBJ after the meeting and said she wanted to look at universal security standards for businesses downtown, in addition to figuring out ways to spread the permit cost beyond the largest venues, and Burns agreed…