Hangover Continues in Latest Round of Alcohol Policy Talks

Tuesday night’s study session on the Downtown Alcohol Policy had residents giving emotional testimonies, some angry, others hurt, but all pleading the same from their elected officials: Hear us.

"Take a deep breath and start over," said Downtown Campbell Neighborhood Association president Barry Shilman of the discussion on the policy. "There needs to be an equal voice for residents as well as bar owners."

One Campbell resident said, "We want to be able to sleep at night, both figuratively as well as literally."  

The Campbell City Council listened as more than 20 residents and business owners gave their insight into the contentious issue of easing rules affecting establishments serving alcohol in Campbell's downtown.

After the last person stepped down from the podium, the council took turns sharing with the audience the phone calls, emails and in-person meetings each had conducted since the initial and the Aug. 11 subcommittee meeting, explaining that they had done their best to hear what residents had to say on the matter.

"I spoke with 12 people that are here, speaking tonight," said Mayor Jason Baker. "That's just the number of people present and giving testimony. There were many, many more that I talked to as well."

In the end, the majority of the council agreed to have staff form a recommendation to present at the upcoming Oct. 4 meeting on  the amendments to the policy as presented by the subcommittee.

The discussion at hand is the Downtown Alcohol Beverage Policy, passed in 2009 in response to concerns about the increasing amount of police enforcement needed downtown late at night to deal with issues related to alcohol, such as arrests for public drunkenness, driving under the influence, fighting, illicit behavior and vandalism, in particular between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

The current policy includes the following:

• Strongly discourages new, stand-alone bars, nightclubs and lounges.
• Establishes midnight as the latest closing time for new restaurants that serve alcohol.
• Requires restaurants to provide food service with alcohol service.
• Places restrictions on live entertainment. 
• Limits bar seating in restaurants to 25 percent of total seating.
• The policy applies to applications for new establishment and to existing establishments that apply to intensify or expand their late night service.

The proposed amendments to the policy include:

• Stand-alone bars/nightclubs to remain strongly discouraged (no change with current policy).
• Provide an exemption to wine tasting/bars that close at 11 p.m. 
• Allow existing late-night alcohol establishments to be considered for expansion, subject to particular findings that the restaurant is in good standing and that expansion will not have a material detrimental effect on health, safety and welfare of the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.
• Allow restaurants to stay open until midnight (already allowed, with planning commission, but on the table to be consistent, rather than have closures between 11 p.m. and midnight).
• Modify boundaries of policy to exclude Winchester Boulevard and East Campbell Avenue plan areas from the definition of “downtown.” 

The meeting was a long one, starting at 6 p.m. and running to 7:30 p.m. when the Campbell City Council meeting began, and then again after the council meeting was over, concluding some time after 10 p.m.

"We could go all night on this one, folks," Vice Mayor Mike Kotowski said to the audience at the meeting.

"There are two Campbells that are shaping up here: Campbell by day and Campbell by night."

Kotowski vocalized something that was surfacing with every testimonial given, whether from a downtown resident or a business owner: A divide between residents who see Campbell as a family-oriented community and those who see Campbell as an up-and-coming place with a lively night life.

"We have a chasm here," Kotowski said. "We need balance."