Lincoln OKs 2 a.m. bar closing

LINCOLN — Instead of ESPN, the TVs in downtown Lincoln bars were tuned to public access channel 5 Monday night as customers watched the City Council vote to extend bar closing hours to 2 a.m.

“You don’t typically see channel 5 on in the bars,” said Duffy’s owner Scott Hatfield after the 6-1 vote in favor of the change. “I’d take Husker football over City Council meetings most days.”

The change takes effect at 6 a.m. Sept. 17, in time for Friday night socializing. The vote came too late for Saturday’s season opener against Western Kentucky. The Huskers are out of town, playing at Washington, the weekend that the change will take effect.

“It’s sad that it’s not in place for the first football game, but Lincoln has always been very careful in its decisions,” Hatfield said. “They took their time, and they did what they thought was right.”

The later closing time was made possible by a new state law giving local governments authority to adopt a 2 a.m. closing time. Previous state law required bars to close by 1 a.m. So far, nearly three dozen Nebraska communities, including Omaha and Douglas County, have adopted the later closing time.

The proposal has been more controversial in Lincoln, in part because of its proliferation of downtown bars and college-age drinkers.

But bar owners have said Lincoln is the only city of more than 200,000 in the U.S. that required its bars to close earlier than 2 a.m. They also argued that a later closing time would put Lincoln in the same league with other Big 10 college towns, where bars are open past 1 a.m.

NU Athletic Director Tom Osborne was among those who opposed the change. In a letter expressing his personal views, and not those of UNL or the athletic department, he said drinking is a significant cause of death and injury for college students.

Retired K-12 superintendent Gary Oxley of Lincoln said he was disappointed by Monday’s vote. He said alcohol contributes to family problems that make it difficult for children to learn.

“Kids and parents and education lost on that vote,” he said.

The council approved the change after adopting an amendment calling for a beverage server training program and permit system. The council would have to approve the details of the program before it takes effect, possibly in a year. The ordinance also calls for authorities to monitor whether later closing times result in more police calls, drunk driving arrests, detox admissions and other alcohol-related incidents.

Council member Jonathan Cook was the lone “no” vote against the later closing time. He cited testimony from Osborne, medical professionals, the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office and the Lincoln Council on Alcoholism and Drugs that the later closing time could create more alcohol abuse and related problems.

“Those who support this say there’s a lot of money to be made,” he said. “But the issue is about safety and alcohol abuse, and I think that’s more important than a little additional revenue.”

But Council member Doug Emery recalled driving to Kansas in his youth, where the legal drinking age was 18.

“That was probably irresponsible,” he said. ‘But try as it might, government can’t legislate responsibility, nor can it legislate morality.”

Council member Gene Carroll said he supported later closing times in conjunction with Lincoln’s decision to build a $168 million sports and entertainment arena. A 2 percent tax on restaurant and bar tabs will help pay for that facility.

“When we went to the bar and restaurant owners asking them to pay that tax, they could have said ‘that’s a problem for us, you’re trying to kill our business,’” he said. “They didn’t do that. They saw the big picture, that we need to add entertainment and grow the city of Lincoln. Lincoln voters understood that when they voted for the arena.”

Council President John Spatz said Lincoln couldn’t afford to stay at 1 a.m. when other cities around it have later closing times.

“Omaha’s already gone to 2, to a large extent that’s forcing our hand,” he said.

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