Walnut Creek Pushes Tougher Policy For Bars

The City Council has directed city staff to draft an ordinance to better ensure that weekend fun doesn't degenerate into weekend destruction.

that are launch points for fights, rowdiness, drug sales and DUIs around weekend closing times.

Council members at a retreat session Tuesday said the city should be "aggressive" in the terms of such an ordinance and in the urgency to draft and pass it.

"I have no tolerance for violence in our downtown," said Council member Kristina Lawson. "I have no tolerance for narcotics dealing downtown. No one moved to Walnut Creek for this thriving bar scene."

The council hopes to remove the current two-tiered system in which some bars and restaurants are governed by the city's Conditional Use Permit system. Others, from before the city added regulations in 1996, have been grandfathered in with lesser regulations.

The council also talked about organizing a meeting for city leaders to meet with representatives of problematic taverns to discuss the policy and the city's resolve.

Walnut Creek will consider the concept of a "deemed approved ordinance" seen in Rohnert, San Leandro, Newport Beach and Hayward. "Deemed approved" is a land use provision whereby approved businesses can be required to adhere to performance criteria, according to a report by the city's Community Development Department.

Recent months have witnessed the beating of a man outside a downtown tavern, a parking lot rumble involving 30 people and the city's attempt to move back closing time at the Lift Lounge from 12:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.