I wrote against it on another web site. I come to Gallery Nights to visit with old friends that I bump into, drink a mixed drink or two while walking around listening to music, visiting the vendors and even buying art at a gallery or two.
Gallery Nights are the safest community gatherings I have ever attended. Police presence is mostly for show, as I have never seen a fight or the need for police action. There is no justification for banning mixed drink vendors streetside.
It seems the Downtown Improvement Board has overstepped their authority.
From the City Attorney:
- Quote :
- From: Lysia Bowling
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015
To: Charles Bare
Subject: RE: DIB Banning Certain Alcohol During Gallery Night
Dear Councilmember Bare:
Hope your start to the week has been good.
I do not find any legal basis providing DIB regulatory authority over the types of liquor sold during a Gallery Night.
Please let me know should you need anything further.
Thank you,
Lysia H. Bowling
From Rick's Blog: A hot issue on Palafox has been the DIB vote to ban liquor sales at the outdoor bars during Gallery Night. The bars would be allowed to only sale beer and wine as early as the May 22 Gallery Night, if the DIB action stands unchallenged.
Pensacola City Councilman Charles Bare wondered whether the Downtown Improvement Board can regulate alcohol sales, since such business is regulated by the state, not a local board. Most city ordinances concern the consumption of alcohol, not its sale. Bare asked City Attorney Lysia Bowling to research the matter.
Bare called the paper last night and said that Bowling had found nothing that gave the DIB board the power to regulate or limit alcohol sales within the DIB district.
Yesterday, the Palafox Street bar and restaurant owners and managers met at Hopjacks to discuss the DIB liquor ban. The common interest of the 30 or so people gathered was to preserve Gallery Night.
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