Newport businesses that sell alcohol into the early mornings will soon be required to undergo an annual review.
That’s after the city commission decided to change an ordinance regarding so-called extended hour liquor licenses — which allow a business to serve alcohol until 2:30 a.m. instead of the usual 1 a.m. — that would make the rules more straightforward, according to commissioners.
The changes voted on and passed at Monday night’s commission meeting would bolster the enforcement possibilities of the ordinance, according to Newport City Manager Tom Fromme.
The city’s alcoholic beverage control administrator will conduct a mandatory annual review to look at any police calls or arrests on the premises of extended license holders.
Fromme said roughly 40 businesses among bars, restaurants, and liquor stores in the city have an extended license, which cost $3,000.
“The current legislation really was kind of weak when it came to actual enforcement,” Fromme said.
He also said the ordinance was updated to allow businesses to appeal should the city take action against them. The updates further clarify what an excessive number of police calls would be.
“So, say you have 50 police calls to a particular bar during the course of the year. How does that stack up to the rest of the bars in the city?” Fromme said. “So, if everybody else has five and you have 50, then that’s excessive. That’s how we define that.”
Should an establishment have excessive calls, the city can deny the extended hours license. Fromme said the city has been tracking the calls and keeping information logs. He said if there is a “major incident,” the city doesn’t have to wait until the end of the license period to revoke it.
Fromme said the state Alcoholic Beverage Control is in charge of the base license, and its base time is midnight. Any operating time past midnight is within the city’s domain. During the first reading of the ordinance on April 24, he said that it is a privilege for a business to have extended hours, not a right.
“The extended hour is a privilege; it’s like a driver’s license; it’s a privilege, not a right,” Fromme said during the first reading. “So, if you don’t operate your business in a proper manner, or you don’t police your patrons, or you don’t police outside and litter and everything else noise, then you shouldn’t have the privilege to an extended hours permit.”
