Fircrest City Council to discuss alcohol rules Tuesday

For the first time since Fircrest voters approved alcohol sales by the glass throughout the city limits, the Fircrest City Council will discuss how to regulate those sales at a meeting Tuesday (Nov. 24).

In the Nov. 3 election, Fircrest residents approved lifting the alcohol ban with a 75-percent yes vote. The council will now review proposed regulations passed on from the planning commission and will open the floor for public comment. No final action is expected.

Up for discussion are suggested limitations on the type of alcohol-selling businesses allowed in the city’s neighborhood commercial zone, constraints on hours of operation and restrictions on when bottles can be taken to outside trash bins.

After a series of meetings over the summer, the city’s Planning Commission recommended sports bars, taverns, night clubs, lounges and similar establishments should not be allowed in the city. The commission also proposed prohibiting outdoor alcohol consumption to limit noise impacts on residential areas surrounding the neighborhood commercial zone.

Only two commercial retail places in the city will be affected by lifting the city’s Prohibition-era ban on selling alcohol by the glass. They include the small commercial strip along Regents Boulevard, where Viafore’s Italian Delicatessan and Spring Lake Cafe are located, and the Village Square Shopping Center, also located on Regents Boulevard across from the Fircrest Golf Club.

The Fircrest City Council meets at 7 p.m. at 115 Ramsdell St.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 7:31 AM with the headline "Fircrest City Council to discuss alcohol rules Tuesday."