Orlando leaders to vote on new ordinance
The push to make downtown Orlando safer is going beyond security checkpoints. The city council will soon vote on a new ordinance that will redefine restaurants, bars and nightclubs. Reports of violence like shootings in the summer have since increased police presence and security checkpoints downtown, including city meetings to discuss what needs to change. A proposed ordinance will distinctly clarify what it means to be a bar, restaurant or nightclub. For example, a the restaurant has to keep its chairs and tables for seated meals in place during its hours of operation. It must also not charge for entry and has to welcome all ages, otherwise it’ll be reclassified as possibly a bar or nightclub. The proposal aims to restrict locations for each kind of business that’s looking to get a license. “During the daytime, we focus more on sports, we play games… and then once it hits eight or nine we kind of push everything in and we go club mode and we change the whole atmosphere,” floor manager of Parlay Ethan Snyder said. Parlay opened downtown this past summer. “Coming into it, it’s all new, but I think that this is like a great location on a busy street,” Snyder said. City leaders hope the proposal will help manage businesses when it comes to zoning and public safety. “Safety is really important. We want all of our staff to be safe and we want everyone downtown to be safe,” Snyder said. The City Council is scheduled to … Read More
