A group of Morgan Hill business owners and residents are fed up
with drunken late-night misbehavior downtown, and they want the
city to do something about it.
A group of Morgan Hill business owners and residents are fed up with drunken late-night misbehavior downtown, and they want the city to do something about it.
Morgan Hill Downtown Association President Dennis Kennedy sent a letter to Mayor Steve Tate listing five suggestions to curb the frequency of fighting, property destruction, public urination and loud noise fueled by alcohol consumption in the early hours of the morning.
But bartenders and managers at Legends Bar and Grill and M & H Tavern, both of which are specified in Kennedy’s letter as sources of many of the recent alcohol-related incidents, are concerned not only with their livelihood. They are also worried about sales tax revenue that could be lost to the city, and the possibility of putting more drunken drivers on the roads to patronize other communities should the city enact the downtown association’s suggestions.
Perhaps the most contentious of the ideas asks the city to enact an ordinance requiring all downtown bars to close at midnight and to open no earlier than 11 a.m. Currently, Legends and the Tavern stay open until 2 a.m.
The Tavern opens at 6 a.m., but employees there said customers mostly drink coffee before the early afternoon. The co-owner of Legends said she does a lot of business on Saturday and Sunday mornings during football season, which is approaching.
“I understand, because I don’t want the (misbehavior) that goes with the night crowd,” said Legends co-owner Shauna St. Cloud. “But I don’t know if we could hold out, losing that much money.”
She estimates that if the city adopts the limited hours, Legends would lose at least $4,000 in sales per month.
The Downtown Association has the interests of downtown residents in mind, some of whom have voiced their concerns with loud noise, damage to private property, and fighting that is associated with alcohol consumption, Kennedy said.
“There’s a terrible impact on the residents and businesses downtown. It’s something that can’t be tolerated,” Kennedy said.
The Association and its residents’ committee thus organized a meeting scheduled for Thursday night to discuss possible ways to civilize the late-night downtown crowd with local business owners and residents.
Police regularly respond to fights in public areas near bars during late nights on the weekends, and they routinely cite people for public drunkenness. About 3 a.m. Sunday police received a call about a fight that reportedly involved 30 people near the intersection of Main Avenue and Monterey Road. By the time officers arrived the crowd had mostly dispersed, but they arrested two males for being drunk in public.
Just this month, police have cited at least 11 people for public intoxication charges, mostly in the downtown area or Tennant Station where the popular bar StriXe Lounge is located.
Association members said they have discussed the problems with Chief Bruce Cumming. He said he has an “open mind” to the downtown group’s ideas, and he has asked both Legends and M&H Tavern to close at midnight in the past.
“They tell me the crowd between midnight and 2 a.m. is very different, it’s a more raucous crowd. I don’t think it’s unreasonable (for the bars to close at midnight),” Cumming said.
But the two downtown bars cited in Kennedy’s letter say these problems are not their fault. Bartenders say they regularly refuse to serve patrons who are heavily intoxicated or act violently or obnoxiously. Plus, people who want to drink alcohol will still do so any time they want, regardless of when the bars are open.
“We try to make sure people don’t drink too much,” said M & H Tavern bartender Marlys Jones, who added that if local bars were to close at midnight, customers would drive in an inebriated state to establishments in San Jose or Gilroy. That both endangers the drivers and other motorists, and deprives Morgan Hill of sales tax revenue, Jones said.
Another employee said the Tavern doesn’t have “that many problems” inside the bar.
“It’s a nice, friendly bar except for the idiots that come in every once in a while,” said bartender Bob Allman. He added that the limited hours could lead both bars to close and be replaced with “another empty shop.”
At least one downtown resident said she and her neighbors have routinely seen and heard the effects of alcohol when customers spill out of the bars at closing time. Laura Gonzalez-Escoto said she has seen drunk people stumbling through town on a recent Saturday morning, her neighbors have reported “loud commotion,” public urination, and people vomiting on sidewalks.
“Things have heated up this past summer,” said Gonzalez-Escoto, who is chair of the residents’ committee of the Downtown Association and helped organize Thursday’s meeting. “We want the downtown to be a fabulous place to visit, for people to have fun, shop, enjoy fine dining, and have fun in the evening.”
Other suggestions to keep the downtown rowdiness toned down, as listed in Kennedy’s letter, include prohibiting overnight parking in lots behind the bars, hiring up to two off-duty officers to patrol the area at closing time, and to research what other cities in California have done to curb the effects of public drunkenness, and work with merchants to hire an on-call taxi service.
But Allman said the Tavern is a good neighbor, and education and public awareness are key to promoting civility among the late-night bar crowd.
“People take care of people. We stop things before they happen,” said Allman. “I want the police to be out here talking to people, building relationships.”
Mayor Steve Tate did not immediately return a phone call Thursday.
Make your voice heard
The Morgan Hill Downtown Association is meeting with business owners, residents, the public at large and city officials tonight to discuss the possibility of shorter hours for downtown bars. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the Granary building near the intersection of Depot Street and Main Avenue.
