Harlan City Council tables minors in bars ordinance; input sought from public

HARLAN - The Harlan City Council voted to table a pending ordinance which was in its second reading that would allow minors to accompany adults into businesses having an alcohol license until 10 p.m. if more than 50 percent of that businesses sales come from beer, wine and liquor sales.
    City officials will now seek input from the bars and businesses affected by the ordinance as well as with law enforcement who would be charged with enforcing the ordinance.
    Ideas discussed at the meeting included possible language changes whereby minors must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian, and if the bar served food would that help modify the ordinance.
    The issue began this spring following potential violations of  the city’s alcohol license whereby businesses that don’t serve alcohol on site cannot allow minors into their business under the current City of Harlan ordinance -- this would include Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits and Iowa Wines & More.
    The ordinance was in its second reading when Don and Marian Kaufman, owners of the Lounge, Harlan,  questioned the hardships it would put on bars to manage their business with minors in their bar.
    They expressed the following concerns: how a small bar, with sometimes only one or two employees, could monitor minors in their establishment; the likely requirement that they would need bouncers every day to monitor the entrance to their business; adults not wanting to be in a bar with minors present; how to monitor adults giving minors drinks; was it prudent in the first place to allow minors into bars and how could they, while running their operations, make sure all minors had left their business by the 10 p.m. minor curfew.
 

 
 

 

Harlan Newspapers

1114 7th Street
P.O. Box 721
Harlan, IA 51537-0721

(800) 909-6397
news2@harlanonline.com

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