Burning question is, will the dedicated party crowd make it to the city council meeting on Wednesday evening? Most likely the first ever council meeting attended in their lifetimes.
Legitimate point raised, closing 90 minutes early will severely affect the incomes of my server friends.
How much income is made from midnight to 2am by bartenders, waitresses, business owners?
Don't forget to factor in the cab drivers.
Is this a case of Big Government interfering with the free market?
Let's not dismiss nearby residents complaints that the partying is getting out of control.
Our coast highway business districts cut right thru neighborhoods.
Coastal Encinitas/Cardiff/Leucadia has become THE groovy nightlife scene. Del Mar, Solana Beach and Carlsbad are all wishing they had the sales tax revenue Encinitas is collecting right now from the nightlife crowd.
The city council is doing the right thing by having this meeting and hearing out all opinions on this issue.
But, before they vote they need to be given actual facts and not just opinions.
This is an issue that must be fully vetted before a decision is made.
Maybe there are some other solutions or compromises.
Compromise #1 midnight closure for only the summer months of June, July, August?
Compromise #2: stop serving booze at midnight but establishments can stay open as late as they want so people can lounge and listen to music and dance?
Party buses must absolutely NOT be allowed to idle for hours on nearby residential streets.
Capn' Keno's and Regal Seagull in Leucadia both already close their bars at midnight.
A site called the Encinitas Hospitality Committee has surfaced urging people to sign an online petition:
http://www.encinitashospitalitycommittee.com/
The EHC is using imagery from the iconic 1984 Kevin Bacon film, Footloose which was about a small town that had banned dancing (for some reason a 2011 remake exists)
Interesting comparison because Encinitas has been a Footloose town for a long time. There are no dance venues anywhere in the city of Encinitas. The Leucadia Blog ranted about this back in 2005, see NO DJ's OR DANCING IN ENC???
The Agenda for Wednesday' city council meeting, June 10 6pm
The meat of the Prop A crowd will most likely be there for agenda item #3. I assume the Prop A crowd and EHC crowd are on opposite ends of this issue. Will there be a culture clash?
And, in the spirit of Prop A shouldn't this matter go to a city wide public vote?
*this post has been updated.
We know Sacramento Gus loves the partying crowd. They are paying Muir's fat $170,000 pension and will be paying his pension in a year or two at over $200,000. Sad Sac loves the partying and stackandpack dollars.
ReplyDeleteStop Gus from ruining our town and stop the out of town drunks from ruining our town.
If its so great to have the party seen, why not build and operate more party bars in Del Mar and Rancho Sante Fe?
If the partying is controlled from ruining Encinitas, more tourists will want to come here.
If partying is so great of an attraction, would most people and families chose to visit Encinitas or Manahattan Beach or Pacific Beach?
PS- What the hell are our Sherrifs doing? They could be hauling in over 200 drunks per night for DUI. If they started cracking down, the word would go out and their would would be less drunks on the road and less fatalities.
Less Fire Department budget and more police budget is needed for this town.
This town is getting on track: As someone else wrote;
1. Kick Stocks out.
2. Passed Prop A.
3. Address the drunks ruining downtown.
4. Fire Sad Sac.
Bright days ahead for Encinitas.
Where is the petition to set a midnight curfew on booze sales at establishments?
ReplyDeleteLet me start by saying that I have not been in a bar until midnight for at least a decade, so this will not affect me in any way.
ReplyDeleteWhat does affect me is the way a few people (the neighbors) are allowed to bully the entire community. There are already laws in place to deal with the problems that are occurring. It is illegal to drink and drive, pee on other peoples' yards, etc. Call the sheriff and video the crimes. That way the people who are causing the problems get punished rather than the 98% of people who can go to a bar until 2am and not cause problems.
The primary issue was not closing bars at midnight. The issue raised was restaurants morphing into new bars and the proliferation of bars in Encinitas. The moratorium discussed was stopping all new applications and take time to formalize a strategy for our future.
ReplyDeleteBut, so typically, the sound-bite crowd only heard one small element that was discussed and now we have Marco running around asking everyone to sign the petition to "Save Encinitas."
Bars create lots of problems as well as providing great entertainment for us, but bar owners have been too busy counting their money than addressing problems. So now that someone is actually considering action, they are all concerned.
Collectively we can probably solve the existing problems, but we can't let the 10 liquor licenses presently pending with more to follow, define our city. Some action has to occur to stop the flow.
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ReplyDeleteThis issue reminds me of the neighbors complaining of the noise of Palomar Airport before they were going to do their remodel.
ReplyDeleteWe have chosen to live in this coastal area where we can walk to restaurants, shops and bars. If we limit small businesses to make money they will move out of the city. We have to look at other communities that have made this same mistake. Del Mar would not expand their train station to accommodate The Coaster and Amtrak. Since than the Harvest Ranch grocery store, Esmerelda and Wind Song book stores have all closed doors. Rancho Santa Fe does not allow live music and there little town cannot sustain many businesses besides real estate offices.
We have a wonderful problem! Small businesses are wanting to open in our community (Bier Garden, Regal Seagull, Public House to name a few). Let's try to work out solutions with our business neighbors before putting a moratorium or demanding businesses to close early. I live next to the Leucadian and I am thrilled that the business was sold instead of closing their doors. I know that the business sales tax revenues will help to fund the long awaited sidewalks that are needed along N. Coast HWY 101.
Please support your local business! The alternatives are chains and franchises which would destroy the eclectic mixture of our seaside communities.