Bar owners fight ordinance

Monday night, a small group of Hattiesburg bar and restaurant owners met at The Neal House to discuss an ordinance that would redefine a nightclub to mean any establishment that serves alcohol and provides entertainment.

The ordinance was proposed by a special council created by Mayor Johnny DuPree. It included such members as Hattiesburg Chief of Police Frazier Bolton and Southern Miss Dean of Students Eddie Holloway. The ordinance was approved last Thursday and was scheduled for a vote by Hattiesburg City Council members today.

After an overwhelming amount of opposition, the ordinance was removed from today's budget.

In an interview with WDAM last Thursday, city council member Dave Ware agreed that this ordinance would put a strain on small business owners in Hattiesburg.

"It would certainly put a burden on the owner," Ware said.  "We're making sure nightclub owners are accountable and that safety is the number one thing on their priority list."

If passed, the ordinance would group every bar, convention center, lounge and multi-purpose center together as a "nightclub."  Restaurants that serve alcohol and provide entertainment such as live or programmed music, dancing, table games or video games would also be classified as a "nightclub."

The ordinance is aimed at establishing a set of rules and regulations for the owners of the "nightclubs" to follow. Those regulations include:  requiring every owner to employ one security guard per 75 patrons; every person entering a venue must be checked with a hand-held metal detector; every venue must provide private parking for patrons and every venue must install security cameras inside and outside and allow the city of Hattiesburg to see those cameras at any given time.

About 20 people were present at the meeting Monday night, and the crowd included the owners of Keg and Barrel, Benny's Boom Boom Room, Walnut Circle Grill, T-Bones Record Shop and Café and Cork Wine and Martini Bar.

Many at the meeting were concerned about the ordinance's general vagueness, small business monetary loss and invasion of privacy issues.

Jane Claire Tyner, owner of event planning business Cherry on Top, said she has many problems with the ordinance.

"One of my issues is that this has been around since December, so why has nobody heard about it before last Thursday?" she asked. "They said they've had a consensus of restaurant owners, but who?"

Ben Shemper, owner of Benny's Boom Boom Room, also said the ordinance needed to be rejected.

"This is going to hurt me more than anybody.  I don't have any parking.  Average night at Boom Boom is 75 to 80 people.  Every time I open my doors, I would have to pay security guards," Shemper said.  "If you've got someone at the door with a metal detecting wand, what are people going to think?  There's a difference between a bar and a club."

John Neal, owner of Keg and Barrel and The Neal House, agreed with Shemper.

"About 99 percent of the local businesses negatively affected by this proposal make Hattiesburg a better place to live," Neal said. "It's anti-democratic, anti-small business, and I'm embarrassed that my city would even consider it."

The ordinance would also make it illegal for any "nightclub" to open within 2500 feet of a neighborhood.

Tyner lives in a neighborhood close to downtown, and she said she was not happy with the reform.

"I have walked many times to bars at night in downtown Hattiesburg, and I felt great," Tyner said. "I know these places, and I know who's working the door.  There's already a sense of community here.  These business owners really do care."

Shemper added that parking management is another problem with the ordinance.

Overall, the small business owners in the meeting weren't impressed with any aspect of the ordinance.

"Can I not take my children to eat on the patio at Walnut Circle Grill one night if there's going to be a band there later?" Tyner asked.

"None of it is acceptable to me," Neal said.  "It's going to cost Keg and Barrel over $100,000 per year.  This is crushing the economy for a small business owner."

The ordinance was drafted after a shooting at Remington's Hunt Club in November 2010 that critically injured three Southern Miss football players.  The Hunt Club can occupy 3,000 patrons at one time, while most of the businesses that would be affected by the ordinance only have a maximum capacity of 150.

Security guards as well as members of Hattiesburg Police Department were already present at The Hunt Club the night the shooting took place.

The owner of Remington's Hunt Club was not present at the meeting.

"None of us should even be here.  We all got thrown under the bus because of one bar.  It's like Wal-Mart but for bars," Shemper said.

City officials at the meeting refused to comment.