Ramifications of Changes to Downtown Alcohol Policy

The intent of my posts on the issue of the Downtown Alcohol Beverage Policy is to raise awareness…awareness of what changes proposed by the City Council might mean to ALL residents of Campbell.

After carefully reviewing the study session report prepared by city staff, I created a chart (see image next to this post) which shows how the number of patrons (occupancy) could change if the council decides to allow bars and restaurants to operate until 2:00 am.

Currently, four establishments (, , and ) operate until 2:00 a.m. and operates until 1:00 a.m. Their total occupancy is 529. In 2010, an occupancy rate of 529 generated 544 service calls for the police.

Our police department is concerned about changing the alcohol policy because their resources are already strained and it knows that 2 other establishments ( and ) already have approval to operate until 2:00 a.m. should they chose to do. The owners of Pizzeria and Coop are responsible businesses but imagine if the Coop was sold and the new owners stayed open until 2:00 am…an additional 419 patrons could spill out into our neighborhoods after 2:00 a.m.

Now the real “elephant in the room” is a business that wants to occupy the old Gaslighter theatre building. The interested owners currently operate two ultra-lounges in downtown San Jose… Myth and Sabor.  The business model for these ultra-lounges is clear… restaurants during the day and bar/dance clubs in the evening.  Rumor has it that the owners of Myth want approval for 500 patrons until 2:00 a.m. and have been soliciting council members for support.

Here’s the catch, under the current alcohol policy this type of ultra-lounge use until 2:00 a.m. is not allowed…now you understand why the council wants to revise the policy.

In addition, if the limit on 2:00 a.m. operations is lifted other establishments may seek to extend their hours, e.g. and future uses at the soon to be redeveloped Oddfellows building.

Imagine our late night occupancy rate going from 529 to 1,975 over the next one to two years. Is that the vision for our historic downtown? I submit that it is not.

Joe Hernandez blogs at http://www.campbellfirst.tumblr.com on issues of importance in the City of Campbell

The opinions expressed here are the blogger's and not necessarily those of the local editor's or anyone affiliated with Patch.