Walnut Creek Focuses on Downtown Bar Policy

In the next month, the City Council takes up the issue of the policy for bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

The City Council is planning to have a day-long workshop on Tuesday, Jan. 24, on multiple topics. Mayor Bob Simmons said he expected the alcohol policy would be on the list of topics.

Pending before the council is the appeal of , including scaling back Lift's closing time from 12:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Simmons expected the appeal would go on the council's Feb. 7 agenda.

In 1996, the city adopted an ordinance establishing the CUP process for establishments that serve alcohol. This gave the city the ability to set conditions for the bars and restaurants. "The City has used that process to establish a system with closing hours scheduled to occur at different times," wrote Simmons in an email. "This was done to reduce the number of people who would be leaving the bars and entering the streets at the same time. "

The council had a discussion of the issues on Jan. 18, 2011, including a report from Police Chief Joel Bryden that tallied 470 drunk in public arrests and 284 drunken driving arrests in 2009. That discussion a year ago also included a list of restaurants and bars with licenses that predate the 1996 law and CUP process.

"It is clear that the majority of establishments with those pre-1996 licenses are owned and managed in a way that doesn’t detract from our community, and are managed in a way that is consistent with our vision and policies encouraging an active and alive nighttime downtown," wrote Simmons. "Some of those establishments choose to close early, but others choose to serve alcohol until 2 AM and have had no significant history of police calls.  For me, these facts raise the question as to whether it is a question simply of the hour that an establishment closes, or whether it is a question of the competency of its management.

"In contrast, the establishment known as Lift, which operates under a CUP, has had, over the last 18 months, approximately 80 police calls. While many of those police calls are calls you might anticipate from any establishment (e.g., excessive litter, noise….), many were not. "

Last July, a bouncer at Lift Lounge & Grill was arrested on multiple drug counts, including sale, police said.

Another downtown nightclub Walnut Creek police watch closely changed hands earlier this month, operating under new ownership. The 1251 Lounge on Arroyo Way was formerly the Vice Ultra Lounge.