Jake Browne
Audio By Carbonatix
Partying has been on everyone’s mind since the City of Denver proposed pushing closing times for nightclubs to 4 a.m., but keeping last call for liquor at 2 a.m.
That raises a question for Allison in Denver, who asks: “With all the talk about new licensing so nightclubs in Denver can stay open to 4 a.m. but not serve alcohol after 2 a.m., why can some Glendale bars serve liquor until 4 a.m.?”
Allison’s right: Some Glendale bars are not only allowed to stay open until 4 a.m., but they’re also allowed to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. Even under Denver’s new proposal, bars in the city would have to stop selling alcohol at 2 a.m., per state law.
So how can this tiny, not-even-a-mile-wide city skirt state law? The short answer: Entertainment districts, baby! For the long, more detailed answer, keep reading the latest in our Weekly WTF series.
Common consumption
A state law passed in 2011 and later updated by Senate Bill 19-141 allows Colorado towns and counties to create “common consumption areas” within “entertainment districts.”
Under the law, a group of restaurants, bars or clubs can come together and set up a promotional association, or an entity of attached businesses that share responsibility and tax licensing, to create the common area. The local government overseeing the area then has to approve the association and adopt an ordinance that allows a city or county to set hours of operation and alcohol consumption.
For example, downtown Greeley has an entertainment district downtown with a consumption area where people can walk between bars with open containers, but it still follows the state’s alcohol consumption cutoff of 2 a.m.
Mountain gambling towns such as Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek also have entertainment districts. Some casinos, like the Ameristar in Black Hawk, can serve alcohol 24/7.
While Denver does allow the creation of common consumption areas where people can walk with alcohol — McGregor Square has one, and a new one was recently approved for outside Mission Ballroom — these don’t qualify as entertainment districts, so they don’t get the added benefit of changed serving times.
Glendale takes full advantage of the law, though. While the city recently reeled back last call to 3:45 a.m., businesses in the common consumption area are still open till 4 a.m.
“It’s Colorado. We like to have fun,” Glendale City Manager Chuck Line laughs. “We are all adults. We can make decisions. You want to give everyone the tools to be law-abiding and avoid bad situations.”
Glendale was at the forefront of the movement. Line, who has been with the city for over 20 years, helped draft the state law in 2011.
The trickle effect
But why Glendale? Why the little town hiding under the wing of southeast Denver?
For starters, Shotgun Willie’s — the strip joint for which Glendale is most known — is owned by Deborah Dunafon, wife of long-time Mayor Mike Dunafon. Mike Dunafon was in charge when the ordinance went through; they are both on the board of directors for the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce.
Glendale’s entertainment district includes Shotgun Willie’s, along with other spots like El Potrero Night Club. The area is on East Virginia Avenue from Colorado Boulevard to the west and South Cherry Street to the east.
Line tells Westword that the goal behind setting up the entertainment district was to allow staggering times between bars and restaurants, allowing for more resources, like police, to be dedicated to certain areas.
Basically, restaurants that sell alcohol close before midnight. Then some people can go to nearby bars until 2 a.m., and then a small handful of other spots in one section of town at 4 a.m. This allows police to focus on one area for potential crime. The businesses in the “entertainment district” are also required to provide their own security to participate.
In doing this, you are allowing people to trickle out before the end of the night, according to Line, rather than just rush out at a single last call.
“People aren’t going to rush till the end of the night. People will peter out over the night,” he says, pointing toward places with long drinking hours, like Las Vegas and New Orleans. “People there don’t hit the clubs until 11 p.m. People who just want to get a drink, they don’t want to be out till 1 a.m. Safety can be maximized. Police presence can be maximized.”
This is the main reason Denver is trying to follow suit with extended closing times.
“We’ve heard from businesses that they think there is an appetite for [4 a.m. closures] and that it would be helpful for them,” Molly Duplechian, executive director of Denver’s Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, recently told Westword. “And if that is true, then our hope is there…will be a slower trickle-out of the crowd after 2 a.m. What we see right now is a mass exodus starting at 1:30; it overwhelms law enforcement resources.”
Line says that the trickling hours have also lowered drinking and driving, thanks to a lessened surge of rideshares when everyone leaves the bars at 2 a.m.
“All those bars close at 2 a.m. Everyone is dumped out on the street. That’s not a good thing,” Line says of Denver’s late-night hotspots, like RiNo and the Ballpark District.
The city seemingly agrees, launching various safety plans and improvements with the Denver Police Department over the years in neighborhoods like LoDo and Ballpark to meet the last-call crash.
Will Denver follow?
So, with Denver possibly moving to 4 a.m. closing times for nightclubs, will alcohol consumption follow?
Well, the city kind of can’t.
Here’s the thing: Current state law requires entertainment districts to be at least 20,000 square feet and less than 100 acres. That’s tough for tight areas in Denver, requiring a plethora of businesses to band together to create the promotional association.
For example, McGregor Square businesses banded together to create the association for a common consumption license, but it’s still just under 20,000 square feet, at around 17,000 square feet, so it cannot be an entertainment district.
House Bill 26-1330 tried to lower these requirements to 5,000 square feet this year, but it was killed in the House during its third reading.
Line supports the potential change, hoping a single Denver area will step up to create a prominent example for expanding the possibilities legally.
“Denver should create one and show how well it works to try to expand it through the Senate,” he says. “I think it would help things.”
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