DDD backs 'cafe area' alcohol sales
The council will vote on the measure -- basically an amendment to the existing outdoor dining ordinance to include alcohol -- at 4 p.m. today on the third floor of the Governmental Building on St. Louis Street. Also on the agenda for downtown is proposal for a historic preservation district.
Proponents of amending the outdoor dining ordinance, who include Mayor Bobby Simpson, say that it will help bring energy out into public spaces, livening up downtown and making it more appealing to residents and visitors alike.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of the DDD, had asked the council to table the measure two weeks ago so he could talk with groups concerned about underage drinking and drunken driving.
Rhorer presented letters to the DDD board from the Campus-Community Coalition for Change, a group from LSU combating underage- and binge-drinking, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The letters expressed support for allowing alcohol to be consumed in front of restaurants as long as the area is roped-off or barricaded. This, they said, would help prevent drinking by anyone under 21.
The existing outdoor dining ordinance allows restaurants with a permit from the city-parish Department of Public Works to put a single row of tables on the sidewalk, as long as there is at least 3 feet of space left for passers-by. The law also ensures the city isn't legally liable for anything that goes on in a "cafe area."
The proposed amendment would allow alcohol, require the barrier and make waiters tell patrons to whom they serve alcohol that they cannot leave the "cafe area."
The proposed amendment would not open the entire central business district to the open consumption of alcohol, nor would it allow open containers in the streets or "go cups" that allow patrons of one establishment to go into another with a drink.
Rhorer said discussions in the past few months have raised those possibilities, and subsequent erroneous media reports have caused some consternation.
Both MADD and the Campus-Community Coalition for Change, however, laid out opposition to relaxing the open container law entirely, allowing "go cups" or wristbands and extending the time bars must stop serving alcohol beyond 2 a.m.
None of these options are up for consideration, and even some downtown bars, notably Red Star and Swamp Mama's, expressed reservations about the idea of extending the hours of operation when it came up late last year.
Rhorer also said Tuesday that Simpson will propose a historic preservation district in the area bounded by North Boulevard, North Street, River Road and Interstate 110.
Simpson's proposal will create a nine-member advisory panel to make recommendations to the council regarding historic preservation.
Carolyn Bennett, head of the Foundation for Historical Louisiana, said downtown Baton Rouge has lost 20 historic buildings in the past 20 years.