WPB to crack down on delinquent downtown bars

City beefing up rules for unruly Downtown bars

(West Palm Beach, FL) – If you run a downtown bar and want to be able to serve alcohol after midnight, you had better not be the source of problems in the city. The City of West Palm Beach is toughening the rules for bars that want to serve alcohol after midnight. Current rules require the shutting down of alcohol sales at midnight in the downtown area unless a business has an extended hours permit. The new rules being put in place allow the city to revoke an extended hours permit if a bar has a high number of police calls, nuisance complaints or code violations. The new rules also require bars to have a safety plan in place to reduce noise, loitering, fighting and other criminal activity. Annual inspections will also be required on all businesses that hold an extended hours permit. The new rules are the result of almost a year of discussions aimed at improving the quality of life and reducing the number of incidents and issues linked to downtown bars. The new rules apply to downtown bars as well as bars in CityPlace. “We had many meetings with the merchants downtown, especially those folks that are good neighbors. Most of what’s in [the ordinance] were their suggestions on how to enforce the extended hours permit. They believe that people that are not doing what they should be doing should not have an extended hours permit,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio. The rules need to be voted on twice by the City Commission. The first approval was given this week. The second vote will be later this month. If approved by a second vote, the rules will go into effect ten days after the second approval.

This story was originally posted on WPB.org.