Bars push for extension of last call

Somerville bar owners have requested a licensing change that will allow them to extend their hours of operation from 1 a.m. until 2 a.m.

The members of the Somerville Bar and Restaurant Association recently reached a consensus on the subject and submitted a proposal to the Licensing Commission for review. A public hearing will be held on Mar. 22, and the commission's vote may take place as soon as Mar. 29.

Senior Jason Hall said that the extension is a "great idea." People would partake more in Somerville nightlife because currently "you start having fun at around 1 [p.m.] and then the next thing you know the lights flicker on and the night is over," he said.

Conor Brennan, owner of Somerville bar and restaurant P.J. Ryan's, has been particularly vocal in the process. He attributed restaurant and bar owners' push for later last calls to the "rising costs of doing business." Property taxes and licensing fees in the city have increased over the last two years, and Brennan said he now pays 20 percent more for such fees than he used to.

Steve Mackey, Director of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce, said that restaurants and bars are the "magnet that helps attract people to live, work, and play here." While larger cities like Boston and Cambridge can point to other services as their main industries, Mackey said that Somerville is above all a dining destination.

However, Somerville is forced to compete with the nightlife in these other towns, which Mackey said is currently "not on a level playing field." Both Cambridge and Boston have 2 a.m. last calls.

"Why would patrons go to Somerville at 11 p.m. when they can just stay in Boston until 2 a.m.?" Chairman of the Somerville Bar and Restaurants Association Brett Henry questioned.

Cambridge has seen a surge in 2 a.m. licenses after a smoking ban similar to Somerville's was passed in October 2003. This step has helped alleviate the financial loss area business have incurred in lieu of the smoking ban, Brennan said.

Somerville, however, has "offered nothing to soften the blow." Brennan said his business has decreased by at least 20 percent since the ban in Somerville was passed. "Somerville is not putting its best foot forward in regards to attracting people to the city," he said.

While both Mackey and Henry agreed with this diagnosis, it is not without its opposition.

Alderman Jack Connolly of Ward 6, which encompasses Davis and Ball Squares, said that the proposed extension is "about nothing but making more money." He suggested that bar and restaurant owners simply wait until Jul. 5, the prospective launch date for the statewide smoking ban, which he believes will even the playing field.

"What is really an issue here is the quality of life," Connolly said. "I live in this area and I know that people are woken up all the time by people who go to the bars."

An extra hour for drinking, Connolly said, would only cause more of these problems for nearby residents.

This sentiment has been strongly echoed by President of the Board of Aldermen Denise Provost.

Both Provost and Connolly are also concerned that such an extension may lead to public safety problems. Connolly said that the T system shuts down before 1 a.m., so presumably more people would be driving to and from the bars.

Connolly said it would cost the city money to step up the policing of drunk driving and rowdiness, as well as the necessary clean-up of the previous night's extended festivities. "The people who own the bars live outside of Somerville," he said. "They don't have the problems the residents do."

Brennan, however, argued that the extension would not have any of these negative effects. "It's important as a bar owner that I manage my business correctly [in terms of preventing drunk driving], because if I don't there are structures in place to penalize me," he said. "Those structures will still be there if they make last call an hour longer. Public safety is not an issue as far as I'm concerned."

Mark Horan, spokesman for Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, presented a fairly neutral stance on behalf of the mayor. "[Curtatone] thinks this issue is something that should be looked at but is concerned that it doesn't lead to any problems in the neighborhood," Horan said.

Henry said that helping to make restaurants more prosperous can only benefit the city. "People don't realize how much bars and restaurants give back to the community," he said. "We're the first places people go to when they're looking for donations."

Mackey added that with restaurants gaining more income, the property tax base would expand, licensing fees would decrease, and more jobs would be created. He said he is "looking forward to supporting" the petition.