Extended Hour Permit Rules For Bars May Be Changing

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)–  The City Council’s Public Safety Committee discussed safety in the Five Points area and proposed new rules for permits allowing bars to serve alcohol after 2 a.m.  The Public Safety Committee said they did not want to punish all bars, especially if they have never had any problems before. However, committee members say something does need to change to make sure Columbia is safer for everyone. 

Right now there are more than 20 bars in Columbia that serve alcohol until sunrise. Bar None owner Marty Dreesen said he thinks individuals need to take more responsibility, not the bars.

“I’m glad that they listened to us and realized that some of us do a better job than others,” Dreesen said. “Personal responsibility. People need to be held responsible for their actions. Whether it’s peeing on somebody’s yard or getting into a fight in the street.”

City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann said Five Points is not a bad area and thinks people are giving the neighborhood a bad stigma. Even though he said they have had very few incidents in the past few years.

“They’re making Five Points to be worse than it is. And I have to tell you, if you spent any time out on Saturday, it was probably one of the best run festivals we had. People were well behaved, I think we had about 5 incidents with the police,” Rickenmann said. 

City Councilman Ed McDowell said he refuses to let a man with a gun enter into the debate about Five Points, referring to the incident that happened at 2 am, after the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, where police say a 22-year-old Arthur Jones Jr. shot 3 people in Five Points.

“No, it’s not acceptable, it’s awful. But that guy shouldn’t have had a gun. That guy shouldn’t have been on the street,” Rickenmann said. 

Police Chief Skip Holbrook said this proposed document to the Public Safety Committee is a great step towards a safer Columbia and said having an ordinance in place will make law enforcement jobs a lot easier.

“I’m confident at the end of the day there’s going to be a tool for law enforcement. I think we’ll be much more integral part of this than we have been historically. But I think it will be a substantial tool for us to aid public safety and police the Five Points area” Chief Holbrook said. 

The next step for this proposal is to have a public hearing in 15 days to get the public’s input, then have two readings at City Council meetings which is standard.