Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has reintroduced a bill to permit bars and nightclubs to sell alcohol until 4 AM, following the legislature’s rejection of a similar bill (SB 384) last year. The new bill, Senate Bill 905, would apply only to the six cities: San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, West Hollywood, and Long Beach.
The Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association opposes SB 905, for the same reasons we opposed last year’s bill:
- It simply extends the noise and negative impacts on surrounding residents for two more hours. There are a number of areas throughout the state where entertainment activities are adjacent to residential neighborhoods. Our organization represents a neighborhood directly affected by the traffic, noise and unruly behavior caused by nightlife on the Broadway corridor. We experience a great deal of noise generated by loud intoxicated crowds, car horns, and music from open club doors. On many nights, patrons of Broadway businesses have spilled into surrounding residential areas with behavior that makes some residents apprehensive and uncomfortable. Other residents have lost sleep. Two more hours of alcohol sales wonât lessen those impacts.
- It creates additional public safety concerns. This bill would encourage more people to drive from areas where bars close earlier to those where bars close later. It would also result in late-night drinkers sharing the road with early morning commuters. Common sense says extending the hours of availability of alcohol will increase â not decrease â DUI concerns.
The argument that extending hours of operation to 4:00 AM will somehow reduce the negative impacts on cities and neighborhoods is simply unfounded. It merely extends the time for disruptive behavior. This bill is bad in principle for the state and bad for our neighborhood.
