ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Bars could close two hours earlier in St. Augustine if they don't get a special late-night permit.
A proposed city ordinance would require a separate permit to serve alcohol between midnight and 2 a.m.
Businesses can already sell alcohol until 2 a.m., some people see it as the catalyst for quality-of-life issues on weekend nights in the city.
"Families with kids don’t go out drinking do we want wholesome or do we want to enhance the reputation St. Augustine is party town USA," a concerned neighbor said at Monday night's city commission meeting.
Several business owners spoke during public comment at Monday's meeting and believe the ordinance will be detrimental to their businesses.
Jayson Befort, the general manager of No Name Bar & Grill, said the ordinance would steer weddings away from the city, which he said is about 50 percent of his business.
"No one in the ages of today’s destination weddings wants to come to a town where everything closes at midnight," Befort said.
The city has been working on the ordinance since before the pandemic and read a new version of the ordinance Monday.
The permit requires businesses to take part in a "Responsible Beverage Service Program," ensure the business is outfitted with proper security (cameras or guards), and observe last call at 1:30 a.m.
The city commissioners voted 2-2 to pass the ordinance to a second reading, which was a denial.
The commission will host a workshop where it hopes to hear input from business owners.
The date has not been set, but it will be sometime in August.
The commission must read the ordinance twice before it can go into effect, it has until Oct. 1 to do so.