ORLANDO, Fla. — Starting Monday, downtown bar owners and establishments looking to serve alcohol after midnight must have a permit.
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Owners will also be expected to follow a new set of safety requirements.
Many have said the city’s permitting process has not been easy.
They are not sure if all of the rules will solve the issues because most downtown bars already have security and police on busy nights.
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As of Sunday, nearly 60 bars have applied for new permits to serve after midnight.
So far, fewer than half of those have been approved.
Some of the new safety rules include metal detector wands at businesses that have an occupancy of over 50 people and ID scanners that would keep a log of patrons.
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Kevin Little owns multiple bars downtown and said all of these requirements come with a cost.
“There’s nights where you do need that,” he said. “It’s warranted, and we already do that. But there’s nights where we don’t need it, and now it allows you to maybe not even operate because you can’t afford to pay that.”
Bar owners submitted specific things to get the permits, like business tax receipts showing their location, up-to-date occupancy numbers and liquor license.
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City leaders told Channel 9 on Friday that they planned to work through the weekend to finish approving permits.
Channel 9 asked what would happen if businesses did not get the approval ahead of the deadline.
David Barilla, acting executive director of the City of Orlando Downtown Development Board, said the code enforcement department and police would get involved and handle each situation on a case-by-case basis.
Little worries that some businesses won’t be able to keep up.
“We generally make the most money from ten to two,” he said. “But if you can only stay open ‘til midnight because you can’t afford the cost associated with it, that’s unfortunate.”
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