By snoadmin
Long Beach City Council member Gary DeLong has begun a process that may force popular bars on Second Street in Belmont Shore to cease all alcohol sales at midnight. So far, the council has only voted to have a study conducted on how they could legally change the rules about serving alcohol in restaurants and bars. It is unclear whether the study will lead to the rules being changed, and at the moment it is only in the research stage. However, if the rules are changed, many Long Beach businesses may suffer.
The decision was made after Belmont Shore residents complained excessively about garbage, noise, vomit and public urination in the neighborhood surrounding the bars.
The establishments that are in danger of being affected by this decision include Legends, Panama Joe’s, Dogz, Shannon’s and Acapulco Inn. The owner of Legends Sports Bar Gene Rotondo has recently decided to sell his iconic restaurant because of constant legal battles with DeLong and other city officials.
DeLong has stated that he does not want to force the bars to close at midnight, he only wants them to stop serving alcohol at that time. He believes that this will help the patrons sober up before closing time, and will hopefully stop some of the crime and vandalism that is frequently reported in that area.
It is easy to see where DeLong is coming from, but in the end this proposal could hurt the local businesses and turn one of the most popular areas in Long Beach into a ghost town. People who get out of work late and want to go have a drink will have to go elsewhere. Bartenders who thrive on tips will see their nightly income decrease significantly.
If this law goes into effect, it will not keep people from drinking after midnight. Instead of keeping intoxicated people out of the neighborhoods and off the streets, it might cause them to leave the bar and walk elsewhere. It is doubtful that the vomiting and urination problem will decrease if a parade of drunk people have to relocate to the bars on Ocean Boulevard every night in order to continue drinking.
This also might cause people to start pushing their alcohol intake limit because of the shortened amount of time. People who get to the bar at 10 p.m. will have to pack their usual amount of drinking into only 2 hours, which is bound to end badly.
Legends’ employees are already responsible to patrol the bar and kick out anybody who is drinking too heavily. They also send employees to the surrounding seven houses on each side of the street and have them clean up garbage and vomit. The council should work on forcing the other bars in the area to do the same.
Second Street has been a popular nightspot for many years, and shutting down alcohol sales early will hurt the local economy and the people who work in the area. Many of the employees of these places are college students who depend on their jobs to pay for their education. There has to be a better solution to this problem, one that does not cause so much collateral damage. Besides, what will stop the patrons from arriving at the bar earlier and causing the same sort of problems at an earlier time?
If people want to drink, they will find a way to drink, and keeping them from drinking inside the bar will only cause more problems outside the bar.
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