City Council rescinds PAULA ordinance
The Iowa City City Council voted unanimously and with no discussion Tuesday evening in favor of rescinding the PAULA-ratio ordinance.
Under the ordinance, the city could deny a bar's application for liquor-license renewal if police issued an average of more than one PAULA per visit to the bar during a given month.
Though the ordinance is no longer in effect, the number of PAULAs will still be a factor in determining whether councilors renew bars' liquor licenses, Mayor Matt Hayek said. Instead, it won't be the only factor.
Five Iowa City bars were denied renewal of their liquor licenses after the ordinance was enacted in July 2009. Three of those bars appealed successfully to the state.
In July, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverage Division determined the per-visit-ratio was not in compliance with state laws.
According to the state, a bar's liquor license is granted depending on whether the bar has demonstrated "good moral character," which includes such factors as citizenship, lawfulness, and financial standing. On the contrary, the PAULA ordinance allowed dismissal of a bar's license with just one factor: the ratio.
Some downtown business owners agreed the ordinance did not encourage a holistic view of the bar's character.
"There's too much discretion and too much vagueness in the PAULA-ratio ordinance," said Bill Bryce, a co-owner of the Sports Column, which was denied a liquor-license renewal based on the ratio.
The state Alcoholic Beverage Division ruling took issue with many factors, including the vague definition of the word "visit." One visit could include numerous police officers and therefore skew the ratio, and police could theoretically visit bars randomly and potentially target different bars to different extents, bar owners argued.
"There are a lot of variables that make it difficult to be consistent," said George Etre, the owner of the former Et Cetera.
Etre's establishment was one of the first bars to be denied a liquor license under the PAULA-ratio ordinance. He sold the bar in January for unrelated reasons.
Though Bryce said this variability ultimately "limits the effectiveness of the ordinance," he acknowledged it is difficult to monitor underage drinkers.
"I do think there needs to be some type of regulation for bars that turn a blind eye to underage drinking," he said.
Councilors have said they hope the 21-ordinance will quell underage drinking. Only three PAULAs were written in July, compared to 62 with July 2009.
"The bottom line is serving alcohol to minors is still against the law," Councilor Ross Wilburn said.
comments powered by Disqus
