Health & Fitness
New City Council Majority Pushes Pro-Alcohol/Bar Agenda
Council majority declares open season for more bars and late night operations in downtown and destroy Campbell's small town feel.
Last Tuesday night, the Campbell City Council met in a public study session to review the merits of changing the city’s current Downtown Alcohol Beverage Policy.
In a show of complete indifference to police data, resident concerns about quality of life and the vision to protect Campbell’s small town feel, the Council directed staff to explore options which would essentially gut the effectiveness of the city’s Downtown Alcohol Beverage Policy.
What is the policy?
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Adopted in 2009 by the Council, the Downtown Alcohol Beverage Policy is a tool to help address the growing number of alcohol-related incidents that have occurred as a result of the oversaturation of bars and restaurants/bars in the downtown. It basically keeps the number of bars in balance with other businesses and uses. In fact, the Downtown Campbell Business Association approved of the policy as well…believing it struck the right balance between supporting business and residents.
Due to bars and late night “entertainment,” local neighbors have had to suffer thru regular incidents of people urinating and vomiting in their yards, late night noise, driving under the influence thru their streets, fights and other acts of vandalism. In the four years prior to the adoption of the policy, police calls to the downtown increased an astonishing 250%.
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What does the policy do?
The policy protects the existing bar and restaurant owners who are operating in good standing with the city, however, it places limits on any newly proposed bars and restaurants who also want to operate a bar.
For example:
- New stand alone bars, nightclubs and lounges are strongly discouraged
- Establishes 12:00 am as the latest closing time for new restaurants that serve alcohol
- To avoid restaurants from turning into bars, it requires them to provide food service (there have been instances in the past where this has happened with disastrous results)
- Limits bar seating in restaurants to 25% of total seating
In the period since the policy was adopted, the downtown has reached a nice balance of family oriented mixed-use and a vibrant evening scene. The current make-up of the downtown is consistent with the City’s vision, General Plan and Downtown Development Plan.
What did the Council do last Tuesday?
Despite efforts by Mayor Jason Baker and Vice-Mayor Mike Kotowski to direct the conversation to identify specific adjustments to the policy, the remaining members sought to revisit the entire policy. In particular, rookie Council Member Jeff Cristina pushed for the following changes:
- No limits on the number of bars and nightclubs
- Allow more restaurants to become bars after 12:00 am
- Allow bars and restaurants to open until 3:00 am
- Outdoor seating for bars and restaurants until 3:00 am
- All decisions on conditional use permits (which is in the purview of the Planning Commission) appealable to the City Council
- Create taxicab loading zones to usher drunks on their merry way
While Cristina, Waterman and Low paid lip service to how important quality of life is, pushing for an expansion of bars and late night operations is completely inconsistent with the desires of the residents who spoke on Tuesday night.
What does this mean?
Once city staff brings back options to modify the policy, the Council will vote on how much to change the policy. But based on the direction from Council members Cristina, Waterman and Low it looks like the following is in store for Campbell:
- More bars in the downtown
- More bars and restaurants operating until 3:00 am
- More incidents of public drunkenness, DUI, lewd behavior and late night noise
- More intoxicated patrons driving thru our neighborhoods
- Increased demand on police resources
- Diminished quality of life for downtown residents
- Decline in property values as Campbell reclaims it’s bar-town nickname from the 70s
- Death of Campbell’s small-town feel
What can you do about it?
TAKE ACTION! If you want more information including the staff report and the actual text of the policy, you can read both here.
But more importantly, first shoot a quick email to the Council Members Cristina, Waterman and Low and ask them these 5 simple questions:
1. Exactly why do you want to change the existing policy?
2. How will the change improve the quality of life for residents and maintain Campbell’s small town feel?
3. Why do you believe we need more bars and why do they need to be open until 3:00 am?
4. Have you had any private conversations (face-to-face, phone, email, etc.) with developers or businesses looking to open a bar, nightclub, ultra lounge or restaurant with a bar in Campbell and if so, who?
5. Have you ever accepted any contributions, gifts or other freebies from existing Campbell bars or restaurants operating a bar?
Here's the Council's email addresses:
Second, send an email to the city clerk asking to be notified when the Council will meet again to discuss the policy. cityclerk@cityofcampbell.com
And third, attend the Council meeting when they vote on the policy and let them know how you feel about it.
Campbell has a long and rich heritage as a small town community. Prior City Councils, including yours truly, took an oath to protect and preserve our small town feel. It appears that the new majority of Cristina, Waterman and Low have plans to not honor that oath.
The opinions expressed here are the blogger's and not necessarily those of the local editor's or anyone affiliated with Patch.
