Dance Permit Exemption
[ From: "City officials consider dance permit exemption," By Eric Lindberg, Daily Sound, Oct. 21, 2009 ]
While making it patently clear that they had no intention to relive the convoluted and lengthy process of developing a dance permit ordinance, Santa Barbara city leaders agreed to consider a narrow exemption for small establishments outside of the downtown entertainment district.
Brought to the agenda by Councilmembers Helene Schneider and Das Williams, the amendment would exempt establishments with only a beer and wine license — not a full liquor license — that have a maximum occupancy of 80 people or fewer.
“I think these kinds of businesses are good players,” Williams explained. “They are not dance clubs, there are not huge numbers of folks and they aren’t in the entertainment zone.”
He described a recent visit to Muddy Waters, a local coffeehouse that also hosts bands with amplified sound from time to time. A few older couples were dancing to a swing band, Williams said, and were technically violating the city’s dance permit regulations.
“The intention is to control the amount of rowdiness we have in the entertainment zone,” he said, not to punish small establishments that offer a bit of live music every now and then.
The concept of an exemption didn’t sit too well with Councilmember Iya Falcone, who cited the three years of public hearings, controversy and painful discussions it took to get the current dance permit ordinance approved.
“I, on an instinctive level, feel this is going to create many, many more problems and unintended consequences that we haven’t foreseen,” she said.
To a lesser degree, Councilmember Dale Francisco also recommended approaching any exemptions with caution. While supportive of any efforts to help out small businesses, he said he didn’t want to cause any problems for neighbors or community members.
Police Chief Cam Sanchez said the small establishments being cited by Schneider and Williams do not cause any trouble for law enforcement and are rarely, if ever, the source of noise complaints from neighbors.
He recommended sending the proposed exemption to the city’s ordinance committee to allow community members, police officials and others to weigh in with their opinions — a path that a majority of the city council agreed to take.
While making it patently clear that they had no intention to relive the convoluted and lengthy process of developing a dance permit ordinance, Santa Barbara city leaders agreed to consider a narrow exemption for small establishments outside of the downtown entertainment district.
Brought to the agenda by Councilmembers Helene Schneider and Das Williams, the amendment would exempt establishments with only a beer and wine license — not a full liquor license — that have a maximum occupancy of 80 people or fewer.
“I think these kinds of businesses are good players,” Williams explained. “They are not dance clubs, there are not huge numbers of folks and they aren’t in the entertainment zone.”
He described a recent visit to Muddy Waters, a local coffeehouse that also hosts bands with amplified sound from time to time. A few older couples were dancing to a swing band, Williams said, and were technically violating the city’s dance permit regulations.
“The intention is to control the amount of rowdiness we have in the entertainment zone,” he said, not to punish small establishments that offer a bit of live music every now and then.
The concept of an exemption didn’t sit too well with Councilmember Iya Falcone, who cited the three years of public hearings, controversy and painful discussions it took to get the current dance permit ordinance approved.
“I, on an instinctive level, feel this is going to create many, many more problems and unintended consequences that we haven’t foreseen,” she said.
To a lesser degree, Councilmember Dale Francisco also recommended approaching any exemptions with caution. While supportive of any efforts to help out small businesses, he said he didn’t want to cause any problems for neighbors or community members.
Police Chief Cam Sanchez said the small establishments being cited by Schneider and Williams do not cause any trouble for law enforcement and are rarely, if ever, the source of noise complaints from neighbors.
He recommended sending the proposed exemption to the city’s ordinance committee to allow community members, police officials and others to weigh in with their opinions — a path that a majority of the city council agreed to take.
Labels: dancing, Santa Barbara, small businesses
posted by Malcolm
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10/21/2009
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