Downtown open container area starts Memorial Day weekend
The open container district is larger than last year. It will also run seven days a week until 9 p.m. A request for even later hours was rejected by councilors, who cited concerns from LPD.
Starting Memorial Day weekend, it will be legal to stroll downtown, drinking in the open air.
The Laramie City Council approved a summertime open container area during its meeting last week, bringing back the special allowance for the third year running. The stated aim is driving economic activity downtown.
According to the Laramie Police Department, the open container area hasn’t led to any increase in mischief.
“We’ve had no incidents; the reports from PD are good,” Councilor Andi Summerville said. “What we’ve seen is groups who are doing things, having events downtown, and we want to encourage those businesses to remain open and encourage economic development activity. This is not about just making it easier for the bars or giving them more money. We want downtown to continue to be active during these hours.”
The open container area will be in effect from Memorial Day weekend to the end of October.
This year, the area allowing open containers is larger. And whereas last year, the area was in effect during weekends, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., this year the area will be in effect seven days a week and run until 9 p.m.
The changes stem from two requests the council received last week. René Williams, owner of 4th Street Studios, requested in a letter that the area be expanded to include her own business, which rested just beyond the area’s eastern border in past years.
And John Guerin, the owner of Coal Creek Coffee and TAP, had asked for a temporal extension – upping the days from Thursday-Saturday to every day of the week, and extending the closing hour from 8 p.m. to midnight.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of concern with the (area expansion) request,” Assistant City Manager Todd Feezer said. “However, there are concerns with the extended hours related to John Guerin’s request through the police department. We believe that extending it this late would cause conflict between bar traffic and what we’re intending to do as economic development by encouraging people to be downtown when the businesses are open.”
The council generally agreed with Feezer’s assessment. Councilors extended the area to effectively overlay the entire Laramie Main Street Alliance service area — with the sole exception of the block containing the police station and city hall.
The councilors were more divided on Guerin’s request for more days and longer hours.
The council amended their resolution to make the open container area seven days a week, but the amendment only passed on a 6-3 vote, with Councilors Sharon Cumbie, Erin O’Doherty and Bryan Shuster voting against.
There was no discussion of extending the open container allowance to midnight – but extending it from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. was more palatable.
“I’m in favor of extending the hours to 9 p.m.,” Mayor Paul Weaver said. “I’m cognizant of comments from our police department about later hours than that, in terms of an extension, especially given that this will now be something people can enjoy and partake in every day.”
O’Doherty said 9 p.m. was too late, given that sunset will frequently begin before that time.
“I would like it to end while it’s still daylight,” she said.
Commenter Brett Glass also objected to the later hour, as well as most of the changes extending the open container area’s reach.
“The only businesses open at that time of night are other bars,” Glass said. “This wouldn’t do anything for economic development, as is claimed. The bar owners are asking this because they’re simply out to make money. They don’t care about the character of downtown or whether it’s dangerous or whether it’s a place people want to be.”
Councilor Summerville said 9 p.m. was a reasonable ending time, at least for most of the summer. She said that time could be reevaluated as the open container area extends into the fall and sunset shifts earlier, but that 9 p.m. would not cause problems for most of the summer.
“We really haven’t had any issues,” she said. “And we want the businesses to be out and downtown to be active during that time. Not just the restaurants and bars.”
Ultimately, the council voted 6-3 to approve the 9 p.m. ending time, and then voted unanimously to approve the full open container resolution.