Bill Proposed to Restrict Liquor Permits in Ohio
Earlier today I was alerted to some disturbing news by local beer journalist Michael Paull. A new Senate Bill (S. B. No. 62) has been introduced that would restrict liquor permits within 500 feet of schools, churches, libraries, playgrounds and parks. State Senator Nina Turner sponsored the bill along with the support of co-sponsors Senator Ray Miller and Senator Sue Morano.
NBC4 also featured the story tonight which highlights a lot of the gray area in the wording of this bill. It’s very loosely written and doesn’t fully explain if existing businesses would be grandfathered into exemption, or if the bill would have an effect on liquor permits for restaurants or grocery stores.
Scott Heimlich, owner of Barcelona, was interviewed in the NBC4 piece and expressed concerned that without the proper wording, the bill could close his restaurant and put him and his 60 employees out of business because of their proximity to Schiller Park.
If you’d like to share your opinions on this proposed legislation, you can find contact info here for State Senators Turner, Miller, and Morano.
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Related Tags: alcohol • barcelona • bars • drinking • Nightlife • nina turner • parks • Politics • prohibition • ray miller • restaurants • senate • sue morano
April 28th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
I don’t understand the purpose of the bill. Is she suggesting that people who drink in public are unable to carry liquor more than 500 feet (less than a block) from the point of purchase in order to drink near schools, parks, churches, etc…? Also, how would this affect the wine at church?
April 28th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Dumb, dumb, dumb. I’m pretty sure Cameron Mitchell won’t be too happy when Marcella’s can’t serve wine because it is next to Goodale Park. This bill will go nowhere. I do get the point that we don’t want alcoholic bums sipping on 40s across from schools, but we have to use a bazooka to kill a mouse? We can’t just revoke liquor licenses if they are a nuisance?
April 28th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
What snake handlin’ brainwash church does this woman belong to? Ohio’s liquor laws are convoluted, overly restrictive and nonsenseical. No need to add any more broad reaching restrictions. Is the intent to limit carryouts? Because a much better bill could be written to address that.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
This is the biggest piece of misguided, uninformed, politicking disguised as legislation i have seen all year.
For instance, when you buy weed in the back pew at mass from your little brothers high school dealer, you don’t light up right there. You go home, put on The Flaming Lips, Make a plate of Nachos with black olives, 2 kinds of cheese, black beans and chicken, pour yourself a pitcher of ice water with a touch of lime juice, get out your sketchbook and go to town.
I propose we ban schools and parks within 500 yards of nachos. It makes just as much sense.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
This is typical suburban NIMBYism being forced on everyone. God forbid people live within walking distance of anything. Ms. Turner, Ms. Morano, and Mr. Miller can move to the burbs and stay there. They have no business ruining our cities, especially when I don’t see them doing anything good to improve our cities. And why the hell are we supposed to be beholden to churches in a secular goverment? How about passing a bill for carry-outs not to look like shit?
If this passes here is a taste of things to come:
All bars/clubs on the west side of High (Burgandy Room, Mac’s, and Axis) from Goodale to Warren would be closed and no wine with your meal at Basi. This is due to proximity to Goodale Park.
No alcohol at Dragonfly, On the Fly or Hampton’s (especially detrimental for the latter). Oh, there goes Vic’s too. Due to proximity to churches.
Tip Top might be closed for its proximity to the Catholic Diocese down the street which is around 500 ft.
The list goes on exponentially and would result in a large exodus from Ohio cities. As if that’s what we needed. Very shocking when two of these senators are from Columbus and Cleveland.
“(G) The division shall refuse to issue or transfer the ownership or location of a retail permit issued under this chapter if the premises or event specified in the application is, or is to be operated, within five hundred feet from the boundaries of a parcel of real estate having situated on it a school, church, library, public playground, or township park.”
April 28th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
yeeesh, what will they come up with next. Do they realize how many bars are within 500 feet of schools, churches, libraries, playgrounds and parks. That wipes out a good chuck of Park Street and some of the Short North. I can think of a couple dozen off the top of my head throughout the urban core. Do pocket parks count. Sure, I don’t want a dirty drunk bum sipping on the brown bag while little Johnny is swinging from the monkey bars. A bum is going to drink in a park if he or she wants to regardless. This bill will never pass. What a waste of time. It’s amazing to me the petty things people kick up dust about and the most important issues get swept under the rug and take forever to get solved.
So would this mean no booze at Comfest or Park Street Festival, etc. Looks like I may have to invest a camel pack.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
I sent a non-tirade laced e-mail suggesting if they’re going to bother with this again that they go for a minimal design code for carry-outs to follow, ie, no cheap plastic signs, no posters covering up windows, etc.
April 28th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
So I just skimmed the rough report. After reading through Sec. 4303.292, it sounds like existing businesses may be exempt and grandfathered if the closing of them would damage the character of a neighborhood, or something like that, but what about new bars and restaurants. If you know anything about the bar and restaurant business, it’s that one must constantly reinvent itself or move to new space or whatever. Kind of cuts into the entrepreneural spirit, doesn’t it……..and what’s with the run-on sentences.
April 29th, 2009 at 12:55 am
wow… just… wow. Does someone ~have~ to die to nominate this legislation for the Darwin award?
April 29th, 2009 at 3:38 am
I just can’t understand this. I mean, why all the hate towards booze? I truly don’t get it. What the hell is Ohio turning into??
April 29th, 2009 at 6:34 am
now if we can just get dancing banned, we can finally get a movie filmed in Columbus.
Footloose 2 here we come!
April 29th, 2009 at 7:00 am
The restaurant industry is the second largest private sector employer in the state.
The restaurant industry is one of the few industry segments in the state and nation that is actually growing.
The restaurant industry employs the largest number of women and minorities in management positions.
Liquor permit holders are already subject to approval by nearby churches and schools before their permits are assigned and/or transferred. Both Tip Top and Surly Girl Saloon had to be approved by churches within a certain radius before the permit would transfer to us. Dirty Frank’s is undergoing the same process as I type. This system works just fine.
Under Senator Turner’s plan, all three of my restaurants would close leaving up to 150 workers without jobs, benefits and health insurance.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:24 am
fu**ing prohibitionists
April 29th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Is Jesus being sent to save the babies from demon rum again?
April 29th, 2009 at 7:31 am
The only place we would be able to buy liquor will be swarming with sexual predators. They also can’t be within a certain distance from schools, parks, libraries, etc.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:43 am
What’s wrong with drinking in parks, churches, or school anyway?
April 29th, 2009 at 8:25 am
“That’s why we Lutherans use grape Kool-Aid for the Blood o’ Christ!”
– Drop Dead Gorgeous
April 29th, 2009 at 8:25 am
1. Some of the more tech-literate can probably answer this quickly, but I wonder whether it wouldn’t be possible to whip up a Google map with a 500′ radius around every church, park, etc. in Columbus and show every business that would be closed (assuming it doesn’t contribute to the neighborhood’s historic character, whatever that means).
2. The larger question, though, is: Policy exists to serve the needs of the people. What tangible need does this serve?
The story puts it this way:
“When we come to the store, we have older people who are on drugs and alcohol and they sometimes stop us and ask us for change and stuff,“ Wynn said.
That’s where State Sen. Nina Turner comes in. She said the prevalence of liquor is leading to crime, which hurting communities and children.
“We are looking at a social powder keg here if we don’t begin to control and have real discussions about the over saturation of liquor licenses,“ Turner said.
First of all, the logic is more than a little treacherous: the slippage between drugs and alcohol, and between panhandling and crime, does not usefully serve public policy. I have to hope that’s just sloppy reporting.
But the larger question is, what areas are a problem? Where do we see a correlation between liquor store locations and crime? — OOH! Another Google maps mashup opportunity!!! (Damn, I have got to learn how to make those someday….) If we’re talking about three or four or a dozen locations, that makes a case for revoking those specific liquor licenses — not putting Barcelona out of business.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:38 am
This makes less sense the longer you stare at a map of Columbus. - 500 ft. from the riverfront park covers just about all of downtown West of High St.
- Weilands grocery recently got their license and opened a clean, friendly, well stocked liquor and beer section as a welcome alternative to the dirty, creepy liquor store (with racist staffers and all) I used to use before then, because crazy state laws ensure that I only have one or two near me no matter how unpleasant or unsafe they are, but it’s virtually right across the street from a park/playground.
- How much of German Village is 500 ft from a church, school AND park?
- City Center’s redevelopment will create a roughly six by six block temperance zone in an area the city is trying to redevelop.
- There is a big park along the edge of the BREWERY district.
- The Eastern half of the Arena district is 500 ft from a park.
- Ravari Room is nearish 2 school, a park and at least one church - I didn’t get my tape measure out.
- South Campus Gateway is two blocks from a library.
Important to note - right before you call your senator: The law already has provisions ensuring that licenses considered within 500 feet of that list of public buildings have a hearing to asses the situation, and local governments are consulted. This is the state taking away the ability of people to go on a case-by-case basis. Read the struck-out part and the new (underlined) part.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I was wondering the same thing Bear was; he beat me to the punch. A graphical representation of just how much of the city’s restaurant industry this would shut down might focus some minds in government. Of course, that’s assuming that this state senator actually is even serious about passing it, rather than merely being seen to campaign for it for parochial political reasons. This is beyond ridiculous.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Japan has no open container laws, and for the last few decades crime has been much less of a problem there than in the US.
It’s hard to believe that availability of alcohol leads to more crime.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:57 am
what a dumb-ass idea. there is a similar law in toledo where i went to college that has a distance limit like the one proposed. as such, the main commercial drag (dorr st.) is a shithole because no one would redevelop any of it because they could not get a liquor license.
a better idea - spend 1/1000 of the money and hire community ambassadors like they have downtown who’s job it would be to keep watch over an area, keep it clean, shoo away bums and panhandlers, and alert police if necessary.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Funny thing is whenever I go into a church they ask me for change too.
April 29th, 2009 at 9:04 am
http://www.columbusunderground.com/senator-ray-miller-accused-of-finincial-violations
April 29th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Wow WTF! Why? What is the point ? I am 100% sure there is something else they could focus on.