macboy

Never mind the new Bling, I love the new CrzyC...I hope she never goes out dressed-down again!!!!

Grandfathering in this case only makes them more valuable if those liquor licenses are transferable, which I don't believe they are. If Opium were to pick up and leave, I think the only thing that could pop up in its place would be a true restaurant.
Fact is there really wasn't much room for that many more nightlife establishments below fifth, so Opium and Nikki and the 7 other establishments down there are really not going to derive any more revenue than they already generate as a result of this ruling. But they certainly are given some revenue protection in a way.
But back to the hearing. First of all, good to meet coach and his lady. I had a problem with this proposed ordinance from the outset for the simple fact that it was politics in its truest, most despicable form. What they did was to put in two separate, highly charged issues into a single proposal. First being the denial of any new nightlife establishments in South Pointe and Sunset Harbour. This had been brewing for a very long time, at least with respect to South Pointe. The second was the rollback of the hours from 5am to 2am.
Now, if while some of you have been to commission meetings, I don't know how many of you have shown up to "Mayor on the Move" meetings and political fundraisers for these commissioners. I can tell you that in those meetings, NOT ONE commissioner has ever supported the rollback of nightlife hours!!!!!! In my humble opinion, this option was slipped into the proposal with the specific intention of getting the nightlife community so riled up, that they would concentrate their efforts more on that than they would with the first part of the proposal (no new establishments in SP - SH). The commission knew all along that it would pull the rollback provision from the ordinance, and guess what? They did 7-0 (the first part was approved 5-2), and the nightlife community fell for it. The commission knew that current nightlife establishment owners will ultimately be interested in their own fate more so than the fate of possible future establishments. Self-preservation is the most basic human reaction. It works that way in the business world as well. So now it looks as if the commission has made just about everyone happy. Until they figure out they got duped.
What bothers me about Sunset Harbour is that Jade and Purdy Lounge really don't make any noise outside their establishments, and Jade isn't even surrounded by apartments. No one really had a right to complain in that neighborhood.
Now what is next up in the fight to kill nightlife? Well, June 9 is an important date. That is the day, after public hearing on second reading, that they decide what consitutes an adjudicated violation in determining whether to yank the owners' occupational license. Due to Opium's recent win in the courts, the commission now has to specifically define what is a violation and what is not, and whether they will consider listing major and minor violations, so that some do not count against the owner for purposes of yanking the license. Second to noise issues is littering, specifically the dumping of club flyers and who is ultimately to blame - the promoter or the owner. I think promoters need to watch this carefully as well. See you June 9.