Alcohol ordinance passes P&Z board

At its Oct. 7 meeting, Winter Garden’s Planning and Zoning Board unanimously recommended approval of a new proposed alcohol ordinance following vast amounts of public comment from local business owners and residents, as well as on-the-fence discussion from multiple board members. 

Despite the recommendation, board members believe the ordinance needs work. The recommendation was based on contingencies, including city staff hosting more meetings with business owners, as well as the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, and revising ambiguous language.

“We’ve come a long way over the years, and in doing that there’s been some growing pains associated with being a place that people love to come to,” board member Jimmy Dunn said. “I understand we need to protect the quality of the downtown area. Winter Garden is a family city. But, I also believe that we have to protect our small-business owners. … I’d like to find some compromise here.”

The ordinance will next go before the City Commission for a first reading Oct. 24.

CITY PRESENTATION

City Planning Director Kelly Carson reiterated the city’s reasoning behind the ordinance at the P&Z meeting. 

“The first (reason) is to make the code more consistent with our city’s charter, and the second is to make the code more consistent with new state regulations,” she said. “The state recently did almost a complete overhaul on some of their regulations, and so this ordinance would bring us into compliance with some of those new regulations from the state. (Also), to be more responsive to reported issues related to late-night alcohol consumption, to provide clearer guidance on other issues related to alcohol sales and consumption, and to encourage and maintain the city’s quality of life and foster a family-friendly environment throughout the city — all while supporting a thriving business community.”

Carson said issues have been reflected by a number of police calls, as well as other evidence, including complaints; vomit and fluids found outside establishments; prophylactics, undergarments and contraband found in public areas; trash and debris throughout downtown; and video footage of illicit and illegal activities. 

In her presentation, Carson included a statement from parks director Laura Coar: “My staff is so accustomed to cleaning up all manners of trash, debris, bodily fluids and other detritus from late-night drinking activities that we don’t even think to take photographs for evidence anymore. Many people don’t realize that downtown at 8 a.m. is not the same downtown at 5 a.m. when we are faced with cleaning everything up from the night before.”

Carson said the city has to hire officers to do extra patrols, which costs taxpayers about $150,000 per year.

The changes in the proposed ordinance are reflected in several sections of the code, which include a revised definition of a restaurant; restaurants must have a commercial kitchen with equipment to prepare a full-course meal, including an entree, vegetable or side, and nonalcoholic beverage; a restaurant must be able to serve full-course meals prepared in the commercial kitchen whenever alcohol is served — the city added a provision that food can be pre-prepped for late-night service prior to the kitchen closing — all restaurants that serve alcohol must derive more than 50% of their sales from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages; and restaurants that serve beer, wine and liquor must provide at least 120 indoor seats, unless they are classified as a fine-dining establishment. 

The new definition for a fine-dining establishment requires a restaurant to meet four of the five listed criteria to receive the title, and being designated as a fine-dining establishment would allow a restaurant to use outdoor seating to count towards the minimum 120 seating requirement for liquor sales. 

Other changes also include the hours of permitted alcohol sale and consumption to change from 7 a.m. to midnight. The city has made changes to specify alcohol sale and consumption may be permitted from midnight to 2 a.m. if an establishment applies for and receives an extension-of-hours permit.  

Businesses would be required to submit an application with a $250 fee renewed annually. A committee comprising city staff and the police chief would review all new and renewing permit applications and determine if an establishment needs to hire any state-licensed private security officers or police protection inside and/or outside the facility. 

The changes also state a permit may “be suspended or revoked if the establishment repeatedly fails to control certain deleterious efforts of late-night alcohol consumption.” This would include a presented case with evidence and opportunity for appeal.

The new section relating to hours would impact seven businesses: The Whole Enchilada, Cariera’s Fresh Italian, Pilar’s Martini & Loft, Mr. Shot Cantina, Hagan O’Reilly’s, Tony’s Liquors and Miller’s Ale House.

City staff said the intention of the ordinance is not to shut any business down nor to punish any specific business, and the city has met multiple times with owners of affected businesses. City leaders say they have a duty to represent all of Winter Garden’s citizens, even those who do not want any alcohol, and that finding a healthy compromise is key. 

Carson said the city began drafting the ordinance earlier this year, and more than 2,000 businesses were sent copies of the original draft ordinance and any subsequent drafts. 

BUSINESS OWNERS SPEAK OUT

Tim Grosshans, senior pastor of Winter Garden’s First Baptist church, complimented the city manager and staff for taking action on the issue.

However, many affected business owners expressed concerns. 

Winter Garden resident Jack Butler, director of legislative affairs for a national professional association, is a certified planning consultant for some of the local affected businesses.

“There is no problem documented by the city for which a regulatory solution is needed, and certainly not one that is contrary to state law, imposes significant Bert Harris penalties on the city and violates the city charter,” he said. “The proposed ordinance should be strongly rejected as being contrary to the U.S. and Florida constituents, Florida Statutes, and the best interests of the citizens and businesses of Winter Garden. At the very least, the city should seek the attorney general’s opinion as to the potential conflicts between the proposed ordinance and Florida law.”

Charles and Becky Roper, owners of Pilar’s Martini & Loft, continue to have concerns about the ordinance.

“We built this business so people that were working late at the hospitals, at the theme parks and at the other places that have been serving everyone else all day long have somewhere to go at the end of the day,” Charlie Roper  said. “We were told by lots of people in the city that there was no late-night business here, but then people started coming in. They realized there was somewhere close to home that they could come and have a late-night beverage. We created a business. Now, we have one of the premier jazz clubs in the state of Florida. 

“There’s some good things in this ordinance; it’s not all bad,” he said. “There’s some good conversation that’s been had because of the creation of this ordinance, but we think that there’s still time to have additional conversations and also talk about the language that’s in here.”

Drew Cardaci, co-owner of The Whole Enchilada, has concerns about the financial burden the ordinance could cause, as well as suspension and revoking of the extension of hours permit based on actions of patrons. 

“There are things that can happen there that are fully out of our control,” he said. “We’ve had people that I’ve removed from our facility, having come from another establishment and being intoxicated. We’ve refused service and had it escalate and become an issue. I do feel like the city has the best intentions, but the language is there that it could possibly be used against us.”

Cardaci said the business has spent close to $52,000 on off-duty officers the past two years.

Aaron Dudek, co-owner of Tony’s Liquors, said the city has been receptive during meetings. However, he believes the “dirty time” being between midnight and 2 a.m. is untrue. He has owned two bars in downtown Orlando for more than 20 years, and Winter Garden is the first place he’s had to hire an off-duty officer. 

“We’re not forcing the citizens of Winter Garden to come into our bars or our restaurants and get crazy or do whatever people think they do here,” he said. “We currently, on our own volition, hire a cop for three or four hours every Friday and Saturday at about $60 an hour, and it has helped. It’s a great visual deterrent. … It was our idea, it wasn’t the city’s idea. … I don’t think any of the instances we’ve had have been after midnight. … I feel like we’re being painted as this evil being in town, and we’re not.”