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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.
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.
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.
Funny thing is whenever I go into a church they ask me for change too.
http://www.columbusunderground.com/senator-ray-miller-accused-of-finincial-violations
Wow WTF! Why? What is the point ? I am 100% sure there is something else they could focus on.
My childhood catholic grade school, had three pubs surrounding it.
We suffered no ill effects from it, and at least our teachers had somewhere to walk to after work and get a beer.
I think the real thing they are trying to regulate are carry outs, which I agree could use more regulation, but why ban all liquor sales? At its core this law has the same problem as the leash law that was proposed recently, applying an over generalized law to everyone to deal with an isolated specific problem. It’s the legislative equivalent of using a sledge hammer to nail a tack to the wall.
This ain’t just an Ohio thing. The treatment of alcohol as vice is common throughout the country… even though the founding of this country was in part fermented in meetings at taverns, and our first president operated a whiskey distillery, and a rebellion over a whiskey tax put to question the balance of power between nation and state (and territory), etc.
In the UK, pubs are considered a core part of the social fabric. Families eat meals there with kids in tow. The Countryside Agency, their equivalent of Dept of Ag, lists pubs alongside doctor’s offices and grocery stores as basic services needed for a rural town. It seemed like a more balanced perspective to me.
“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”
Yes. For someone who has ArcGIS and digital parcel data for the city that includes usage and an address listing of businesses it would be trivial to do.
Hey not to link-bait, but I’ve just posted by email to Sen. Miller to my blog. Confusing as this bill is, I’d love to know if I missed any important details, and if you agree with my assessment and live in his district, this is his email address: rmiller@maild.sen.state.oh.us. You can find others here if you don’t or aren’t sure.
Wow.. all three are Dems too.. WTF are they thinking?
I think they need to drastically reduce the radius effected, and probably take parks/church off of the list. However, the idea of carry-outs next to elementary schools (i.e. Weinland Park) isn’t ideal. Not necessarily because of the alcohol but for the type of people that hang around it, often drunk (if not cracked out) yelling obscenity’s, etc. It honestly isn’t a big deal to me (and I’m actually a friend to the owner of this store), but I can see where if I had a child I wouldn’t want them to have to walk by it every day. Not sure if there are many other situations like this around the city, which really should make this less of a bill and more of a case by case basis.
What about restrictions on bars and clubs that were once schools, churches or libraries; or on areas that were at one time playgrounds and parks? For a state struggling to keep residences and a city fighting to up its “cool factor” there seems to be a lot a decision-making in the pipeline to makes people NOT want to stay or move to Ohio. I have not heard of an out-of-control problem with school aged kids getting their booze at the local pub or club. I think we should prevent parents from putting booze in their liquor cabinets. That would have a bigger effect.
Restaurants and bars are well-known to financially contribute greatly to the schools, churches and community surrounding them. Gift certificates, food donations, requests for advertising and cash donations are regular requests we receive (averaging 12 requests per week/per restaurant) from our neighboring schools, churches and community. We comply with almost all requests when we are in a position to do so. Most restaurants average $100-$10,000/month in monthly food and gift certificate donations to charity each month. Cutting off these donors would be a cutting off a large revenue stream to these worthy organizations.
State control of liquor sales intensifies the issue beersie1 identifies above. Liquor stores can not compete on price, so they compete on overhead (cheap real estate, poor security & service). You want to chase away the creepers out front of the liquor stores, make them compete for my dollar the way Weiland’s Grocery does: service, selection, customer experience.
But wait – they’re right across the street from a playground in a nice neighborhood! Can’t have that. Better go back to the place across the street from the plasma clinic, where the guy behind the counter made nazi jokes the last time I went in, and support his business. Awesome. Thank you, Ohio, for taking away the power of the consumer to choose.
Won’t happen…
“SamuraiJack Says: Wow.. all three are Dems too.. WTF are they thinking?”
Why is this surprising? Stupiditity doesn’t discriminate.
This is just another attempt by our government to control every aspect of our lives. This serves to protect no one. Unless the law says you cannot consume or have consumed alcohol within 500 feet of these establishments, this is stupid – and that would be even more stupid.
It’s just like the Sexual Predator Law. Nothing in that law says an offender cannot BE 1000 feet from school, just that they can’t LIVE within 1000 feet. That sicko can walk around the school if he wants as along as he doesn’t live there.
This is a new State Senator and she is just wasting our time and trying to control our lives.
“The government that governs best governs least.”
Thory: The reason Japan has less crime is because of their culture. In public the Japanese (at least in Japan) tend to be very conservative and docile, however, get them in their private element and they bloom. This public docilness leads people to have a healthy fear of government(well that and the lack of guns, even police officers don’t carry them except for areas like Shibuya). I heard a story when I was in Tokyo that police there commonly find 500 yen coins in their lost and found drop boxes, something you would never see in this country. My point the lack of open container laws correlates to lower crime but it is in no way causation for that lower crime.
rant over
As for this bill what the heck! I thought Democrats were supposed to get the whole prohibition doesn’t work stuff. When will we learn our lesson and stop using police and penalties to solve mental health issues. Frankly this is just pandering and I wouldn’t be suprised if there is a certain representitive that has certain business deallings she is looking out for, otherwise she is just ignorant and I hope that isn’t the case with a state senator.
“State Senator Nina Turner sponsored the bill along with the support of co-sponsors Senator Ray Miller and Senator Sue Morano.”
These buffoons must go when election time comes.
it’s Ray Miller’s last term, I think(not sure, but don’t you have to vote for those within your district? can’t say I’ve really paid much attn to the Ohio House and Senate) he is the only one we can vote for anyway.
but I guess he could come back in 2016.
edit: Thirty-three state senators are elected from legislative districts throughout the state of Ohio — each one represents approximately 330,000 people. The districts are redrawn every 10 years, following the completion of the national census.