BY DAVE PARRO
A proposal for an entertainment district in downtown Aurora with 4 a.m. bar hours cleared its first hurdle this week when a low-level subcommittee recommended approval of the plan.
While the Downtown Aurora Entertainment District Committee might not carry much weight, its vote was significant because it marks the first time the extended liquor hours, which have been floated before and shot down, have gone anywhere in almost a decade.
The last time 4 a.m. liquor licenses were publicly discussed, in 1998, the City Council didn't even allow the proposal to come to a final vote because of political pressure. A City Council committee had recommended approval, but aldermen and the former mayor tabled the issue, and no one brought it up again until now.
Here's how longtime Beacon staffer Joe Gillette described its defeat in a column on May 24, 1998:
... Mayor David Stover put forth a plan to create a narrowly bounded downtown "entertainment district," replete with late-night alcohol service for holders of strictly regulated liquor sale licenses.The idea had sound backing from a number of existing downtown interests, and Stover put it out there to sink or swim on the merits of however much backbone City Council members might muster in support of something promising and new. ...
Predictably, some very vocal folks -- most likely some of the same crowd which previously railed against off-track betting to the point that a very lucrative facility wound up in North Aurora -- went emotionally ballistic the minute 4 a.m. and drinking were mentioned in the same breath. ...
... Mayor Stover said the whole "entertainment-district" matter was off the table and sent it back to the Planning and Development Committee -- with orders never to bring it forth anew until a solid majority can back it.
A revived entertainment district, which is being pushed by downtown business owner Dan Hites, is still a long way from even coming before the City Council. But the fact that it's gotten this far without being squashed means it might have a shot under a new mayor and council.
It seems like a good idea, as long as the city can tie the later liquor hours to live entertainment and hold club owners responsible with a strict set of rules. There's no doubt downtown Aurora needs a shot in the arm when it comes to night life. Hopefully the City Council will at least judge the proposal on its merits this time around rather than caving in to the teetotalers.
You have got to be kidding! With all of the DUI's and fatatalities you want to give people more time to get even more drunk to go out and kill even more people??? You think it's ok because they will "hold the club owners responsible"? You are basically saying to the family members of those who were killed by drunk drivers "It's okay that you child or parent was killed by a drunk driver because we are holding someone responsible". Come on...
It is nice to know I can now be killed by a drunk driver on my way to work in the morning.