- November 15, 2024
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Palm Coast, and the city's Flagler County neighbors, don't have any bottle clubs. And the city may ensure it doesn't get any.
The clubs — establishments where patrons bring alcoholic beverages that are then served to them, often after traditional bars are legally required to stop serving alcohol or before they're permitted to start — can bring nuisances and crime, Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon told City Council members at a City Council meeting Nov. 17.
"They provide the mixers and the environment, but they don’t have to follow the same rules and regulations as someone with a liquor license," Landon said. "It’s kind of a loophole."
So the city is starting a three-part legal review of the issue, a decision that leads to a 120-day moratorium on the permitting of any proposals for a bottle club.
The city received a series of emails from concerned business owners and residents over the past week after a couple proposed opening a bottle club in City Marketplace. Among the opponents were the owners or representatives of Dominic's Deli, Cue Note Billiards, Carmella's Pizza and Pasta, and Cut Up and Sew.
Coldwell Bankers Premier Properties Broker/Manager Thomas Heiser sent the city the first of the current barrage of anti-bottle club emails Nov. 10, writing that a couple had contacted his company hoping to rent its space to open a bottle club.
"After doing some research about Bottle Clubs and the type of clientele they typically attract, we did not want this type of business in the shopping plaza," Heiser wrote. "As a businessperson, having an establishment where one can consume alcoholic beverages anytime during the day or night is not what we need in Palm Coast. This would affect owners/tenants of other businesses that may be in the same vicinity of a Bottle Club. There cold be a good possibility that owners of shopping centers/plazas might see a larger vacancy rate if a Bottle Club would be allowed to open in their center/plaza."
Jason Thomas, general manager at Cue Note Billiards, didn't want a Bottle Club in the plaza, either.
"Our customer base would show a huge decline if they knew the type of clientele that these type of businesses attract," he wrote. "A late night establishment of this type can lead to the draw of unruly customers that may run the risk of severe property damage due to intoxicated drivers, excess litter caused by outside drinking and smoking, in addition to possible loitering around the property."
Sheriff's Office Palm Coast Precinct Commander Mark Carman told the council that the Sheriff's Office "has a serious concern regarding bottle clubs."
"We are in no way against business," he said. "We are all for businesses and job opportunities in Palm Coast and the surrouning areas. But this isn’t the kind of establishment we want in the city of Palm Coast."
BottleClubs, he said, are "really taxing on law enforcement. They stretch our resources beyond limited manpower."
He gave an example: In Volusia County, he said, law enforcement officers received 453 calls for service from a single bottle club from January of 2013 to November 2015. There were two incidents related to homicides — a fatal shooting in a parking lot, and a fight that escalated to a fatal shooter on a nearby bridge during morning rush hour — plus numerous assaults."
Most of the 911 calls related to the bottle clubs, he said, came in after 2 a.m., when regular bars were required to stop serving.
Palm Coast has already changed its codes so that even bottle clubs wouldn't be able to serve after 2 a.m., Landon said, but that wouldn't necessarily solve other problems.
"The culture that these establishments try to bring into the shopping areas is still a gathering place," and one that causes conflict, Landon said.
Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts said he'd told mayors of neighboring cities that Palm Coast planned to take action on bottle clubs, and "advised the other mayors that they may want to pay attention to this also."
For now, the fact that city staff has formally requested the City Council's decision on the issue of bottle clubs prevents staff from being obligated to approve any bottle club proposals, City Attorney Bill Reischmann said.
Netts noted that when someone brings an alcoholic beverage to a bottle club, their options are to either finish the entire thing there, take it into the parking lot when the club closes or get into the car and drive home with the open container, which is illegal.
"There are so many loopholes, if you will, so many opportunities to behave in a less-than-appropriate fashion, we need to put a hold on this until we can establish appropriate regulations," Netts said.
The council voted 4-0 (Councilwoman Heidi Shipley was absent) to approve a moratorium on the issuance of permits to bottle clubs.
