Denver City Council rejects 4 a.m. closing time for clubs, venues

Denver City Council updated the licensing structure for nightclubs, strip clubs and other venues on Monday, Aug. 3, but the opportunity for a 4 a.m. closing time was not part of the final ordinance.

The city’s Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP; formerly Excise & Licenses) proposed a slew of changes intended to streamline licensing around the city’s nightlife, including the elimination of some mandatory hearings and requirements and the addition of some building safety requirements. But a 4 a.m. closure time — the most highlighted part of the proposal, to the dismay of some stakeholders — was taken out after councilmembers thought it might be too much, too soon.

District 3 Councilwoman Jamie Torres, who proposed the amendment to remove 4 a.m. closures from the ordinance, said she was not “entirely comfortable” with making later closures part of the regulatory framework, but was open to a pilot program allowing it in designated parts of the city.

“I think we are not quite there yet on data that demonstrates that things get safer with a later exit time,” Torres said during the meeting.

The proposed 4 a.m. closing time may have been a little overhyped. Clubs and venues that wanted to regularly stay open until 4 a.m. would have needed special permission from the city, and they still would have had to follow state law and cut off alcohol service at 2 a.m., although food service would have still been allowed.

When 4 a.m. closures were still on the table in July, Stephen Brackett, executive director of nightlife business liaison nonprofit ONE Denver, predicted that only a few establishments would apply for the permit in the first year.

“The fact of the matter is, there’s not a lot of money to be made when you’re not selling liquor,” he told Westword. “You’d have to do it at such a scale that ticket pricing and other stuff, like food and non-alcoholic drinks, are sufficient to bring in a profit. And that’s not going to be easy.”

The idea was sold as a way to reduce issues such as crime and traffic accidents in neighborhoods with an active nightlife, with patrons allowed to leave venues over a longer period after last call instead of all at once. Glendale, a small municipality encased by Denver in the south metro, has a similar let-out structure.

But Denver’s council wanted to see more data in support of the move. Torres’ amendment was approved, 12-1, with the DLCP expressing interest in a 4 a.m. pilot program down the road.

What’s changed?

According to DLCP Executive Director Molly Duplechian, “a lot of the details” will be hammered out in a rulemaking process now that the ordinance has passed. But several new rules are already set in stone, such as safety requirements that ban weapons inside venues, stricter surveillance, background check and record-keeping rules, and mandates for “safety and security plans” by venue owners. Clubs and venues will also be responsible for taking “reasonable measures” to prevent “disorderly conduct” inside of their businesses, in entry lines and within 25 feet of entrances and exits.

Much of the ordinance is centered on streamlining licensing rules. According to the DLCP, the three new license types for venues will be for adult entertainment, nightclub entertainment and venues with a capacity of at least 100 people; there will also be a limited entertainment license for smaller businesses that offer live entertainment, a dance floor or target sports, like axe-throwing.