Coming Soon: Fewer Late Night Options

By vouchey in News on Jun 17, 2004 4:15PM

Bad news for booze hounds, late night partiers, and folks that didn't pick up at the 2 am bars: The city is making it harder to get a 4am license. Ald. Burt Natarus, who represents the downtown area and more bars than any other alderman, sponsored an ordinance yesterday that would give more residents the right to reject new applications for a 4 am liquor license.

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Currently, bars that want to sell until 4 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 5 a.m. Sundays must submit petitions signed by a majority of their neighbors if more than half of the buildings within 500 feet are deemed residential. But mixed-use buildings that include businesses as well as homes count as commercial structures, not residential, in that calculation.

The new ordinance would change the rule. Counting mixed-use buildings as residential structures would make it far more likely that a bar would need to circulate petitions to stay open later.

Chicagoist isn't really a 4am bar kinda person anyway. We figure those hours are best for lovin' and sleepin' -- in that order. But we feel for you late nite dawgs, and actually think Chicago could use more of a late night scene. Even the great urban planner, Jane Jacobs, suggests that that bars and their late night foot traffic benefit our cities, by keeping circulation up around the clock and adding eyes to the street to deter crime.