Since it’s formal launch in summer 2010, Mayor Mike McGinn’s Seattle Nightlife Initiative has had one goal: to keep the citizens and streets of Seattle safer in late-night districts.
During the last year and a half, the initiative has tried to accomplish that goal by passing a series of ordinances under the initiative’s banner.
Aaron Pickus, assistant communications director to McGinn, said that the initiative has not only accomplished seven of the original eight components in the initiative, but that it will continue to work on these components, since they are ongoing efforts.
“Most of the eight components are ongoing, so I don’t know if they ever get completed,” Pickus said. “Security training, code compliance, noise ordinance, precinct community outreach, late-night transportation, handling public nuisances and professional development are all things that we all must continue to work on.”
Noise, nuisances
The Mayor’s Office has developed different systems to carry out the seven components.
For code compliance, a Code Compliance Team (CCT) meets monthly to discuss issues including street-food vending and code enforcement at liquor establishments. It also develops recommendations for an overseeing body to consider.
The CCT has already had several successes, including an April 2011 state Liquor Control Board approval of a proposal to include new public-safety conditions as a requirement of issuing a nightclub liquor license.
Noise-ordinance enforcement set limits of 65 decibels on noise affecting residential dwelling units. For many nightlife districts, late-night establishments neighbor residential dwellings. The noise ordinance includes incentives for businesses to mitigate noise complaints before facing fines and enforcement action.
Elizabeth Campbell, president of the Belltown Community Council, said that the closer one is to a bar, the more in-tune one is with noise levels.
“People who live above bars really want that noise cut down. My take and my board’s take on it is that we are pleased in general that they are making an effort to find things out and be somewhat scientific about what choices are made.”
For security training, the Seattle Police Department has begun offering a training program, open to the public, that teaches security personnel how to maintain safety and work effectively with the police. In April, the state Liquor Control Board also added this condition to issuing nightclub licenses.
Precinct community outreach works to improve communication and collaboration between the Seattle Police Department and nightlife businesses. Pickus said that maintaining an open relationship between police precincts and the establishments in their areas is vital for creating a safe environment.
“We have five precincts in the city, and each one is responsible for having a line of communication with the nightlife establishments in their area,” Pickus said. “That helps with security, that helps with knowing about what’s going on in the immediate area and that helps with public safety.”
For professional development, the Seattle Nightlife Initiative has helped establishments learn the best practices and guidelines to minimize conflicts. It has done this through the City of Seattle’s Office of Film + Music, which has incorporated the Nightlife Establishment Handbook in its teachings.
It also connects businesses with associations designed to assist them and encourages enrollment in educational opportunities provided by national associations.
To address public nuisances, the initiative passed the Nighttime Disturbance Ordinance, which created a new law against loud noises, threats or fighting occurring in public places in commercial or industrial zones from midnight to 5 a.m.
Transportation
The transportation alternative portion of the initiative has taken three major steps to improve options for those frequenting nightlife establishments. First, it has worked to raise awareness among the public about late-night transit service options. Second, it recently established late-night taxi zones at five different locations throughout the city.
Pickus said that taxi zones not only help with safety but that they are budget-friendly for the city, as well.
“Because budgets are so tight across government, at the state, county and city level[s], it’s really difficult to launch a big, new thing right now. So what we’re looking for is what we can do with our existing resources,” he explained. “A couple of weeks ago we announced the five new taxi stands.”
Basically, it’s a well-marked area on the curb where taxis can queue up.
“It helps with a more controlled and safer scene. And that’s paint on a curb and a couple of signs, but it was something that nightlife-business owners had asked the city to look into, so we knew it was something they wanted. So far, their feedback has been positive,” he said.
The third portion of the transportation alternative was introduced earlier this year and allows people to prepay their on-street parking until 10 a.m. the following morning.
Pickus said that all street-parking pay stations now offer the option to pay for an extra two hours of parking the following morning so that patrons can take other modes of transportation without fear of a parking ticket.
“A lot of people may have felt pressure to drive home when they’ve had a few too many drinks because they didn’t want to get a parking ticket in the morning, since parking enforcement starts at 8 a.m.,” he said. “Now, you don’t have to worry about rushing back to get to your car. It makes it easier to leave it there and be safe.”
Response on these seven ordinances of the Seattle Nightlife Initiative has been positive from both the community and the business sectors of nightlife districts. Tim Gaydos, president of the Belltown Business Association, agreed with Campbell that efforts to handle these aspects of the initiative have been productive.
“Earlier this year, we worked really closely with the city to get a couple really problem bars under control,” Gaydos said. “You get a few problem bars, and it causes some serious havoc — people that don’t adhere to laws or over-serve. It got crazy. But working with the CCT officers and things like that, we were able to see some action happen, and it was very helpful.”
Not Belltown-targeted
Pickus said that although Belltown has gotten a lot of press surrounding the Nightlife Initiative and does have two late-night taxi stands in its area, the initiative is in no way specifically targeted at the district.
“This is a citywide initiative that is absolutely not more focused on Belltown. It’s really focused on where our city’s nightlife districts are,” Pickus said. “It wouldn’t make sense just to single out one of those districts because we are trying to support nightlife citywide. That’s why we are not only looking at Belltown, but also Ballard, Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill, the [Pike Place] Market and Belltown itself.”
Pickus added that each district is different, and that the city is looking to support the best practices in all areas that have a nightlife core. He also said that two taxi stands were placed near Belltown, but he argued that one is actually closer to downtown.
Pickus also pointed out that there are numerous nightlife businesses on First Avenue, stretching from Belltown to downtown, and that the heavy population of bars and clubs in that area accounted for the extra taxi stand.
“There are a lot of nightlife establishments down there, and there a lot of people who, especially around 2 o’clock, are pushed out all at once, creating a public-safety risk. So that is why there are two there, but there is also one in Fremont, one in Capitol Hill and one in Pioneer Square.”
Pickus said that the initiative has worked to close several problem establishments located throughout the city, not just ones in Belltown: “If you recall, Angie’s in Columbia City was ultimately shut down for a variety of reasons. V-Bar in Belltown is another one.”
The major focus that McGinn has placed on the Seattle Nightlife Initiative comes from the progressing negative relationship that nightlife establishments and the city had been developing before the McGinn was voted into office in November 2009.
Pickus said that the extra attention in no way stems from specific incidences, but that it is meant to nurture a stronger relationship between the Mayor’s Office and the nightlife businesses that contribute so much to the Seattle landscape.
“What we heard during the campaign is that a lot of people in the nightlife business — whether it be a club or a bar or a venue — felt like the relationship between the city and their business sector had become very antagonistic, that there wasn’t good communication, that they were being treated as the bad guy, and that really led to a breakdown in the relationship between that sector and the city,” he explained.
“In listening to that, and looking at how other cities supported their nightlife businesses — which in Seattle brings in millions of dollars for the city and is an important part of its diversity — it made sense to have an open line of communication to share the respective needs. The initiative is a change in approach, more than anything else.”
Last call?
The Seattle Nightlife Initiative has one final component: a proposal to extend liquor-service hours at certain nightlife establishments — a change that the city believes will help reduce public-safety hazards that occur when last call hits and thousand of people flood the streets.
Pickus said that efforts on this proposal have been stalled due to the passing of Initiative 1183: The state liquor board has been swamped with making the change to close its stores and has postponed the matter indefinitely. With the added efforts to quash I-1183 by state employees, Pickus said he is unsure as to when their efforts will begin again.
“There is still no confirmed schedule or time frame yet. It’s very much something they are still working on,” he said. “Some recent reports have given the impression that it is a done deal, and while we are very much looking at it and committed to trying it, what it looks like and how it will work is something we are going to want to hear from the public on.”
Gaydos said that overall, businesses in his area are favorable to extending liquor-service hours, though he acknowledged that extending hours may not be the only solution: “One of the problems with Belltown is that it drops everyone out into the streets at 2 a.m., which causes havoc. I think a majority of people are in favor, but there are questions. Is that the best solution to the problem?”
Pickus said that the 2 a.m. witching hour has become a major strain on city resources and that extending service hours at certain places may reduce some of that burden.
Pickus explained that this 2 a.m. last call causes two public-safety risks: “First off, it creates a huge strain on police resources right at a time when the shift changes happen in the police department — you have a huge public-safety concern that’s concentrated in just a few parts of the city. So it’s just a big drain for police personnel to need to be there for those times when there are other things going on in the city simultaneously.”
Pickus added that the second safety risk has to do with deserted streets after the 2 a.m. rush. “It’s always safer when you have more eyes on the street. The idea that there are people on the street, it’s a little bit harder to be in a situation where you are being mugged. It still happens, but if there are more eyes on the street, it’s a safer environment.”
The Mayor’s office also mentioned that wrapping the extended liquor-service-hours proposal into an initiative surrounded by extra public-safety measures should help the public to realize that they are looking at the issue comprehensively.
“We found — through our own internal analysis and reviewing the experiences of other cities, when you want to look at extended service hours, the way it has to be done —is in a comprehensive framework of other factors,” Pickus said. “That’s why you’re seeing the initiative as an eight-component initiative — not just extended service hours — because what’s really driving the entire initiative is improving public safety.”
Conversely, Gaydos said that some people think extending service hours only encourages more alcohol consumption, and they want to find a more creative way to deal with the problem, like extending hours after last call so people can sober up for a while before being kicked out.
Varied community response
Campbell said the community remains cautious, as well. She added that the community is very divided over the issues, depending on how it affects them personally.
“There is not a consensus in Belltown as to being really super-pleased or displeased about the proposal. It’s been a mixed response,” she said. “It comes down to how policing afterward, during the late evenings, goes.
“What we also want is for bar owners and parking-lot owners to pay attention to their properties. We want — whether there’s a nightlife initiative or not — for business owners to take some real responsibility,” she added.
Campbell added that response to extended service hours has been so varied because a lot of people may not fully understand the pros and cons of the proposal. She said that members of the community would like to know more.
“I think the community council would very much like to reach out at this juncture to both the people who are working on the ordinance and the people who are having trouble with the concepts involved, and ask them to come and speak to the council. I’d really like to see them reaching out to the community in that meaningful way. And I’d be happy to schedule them in.”
For more information, visit www.seattle.gov.nightlife.
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