Proposal would limit bar hours in much of Saratoga

Patrons frequent pubs on Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs in this February 2012 photo.

The transfer of the Stadium Cafe’s liquor license seemed like a simple part of the sale involving the Broadway sports bar.

With no disciplinary history on record with the state Liquor Authority, the prospective owners were anticipating a seamless transition when they applied for the transfer in October. But the transfer came with an unexpected caveat: The city wouldn’t oppose it as long as the new owners agreed to have last call no later than 2 a.m.

“It was news to us,” said Anthony Fazzone, an attorney representing the new owners, whom he declined to name. “We didn’t have any idea. The attorney for the tavern we’re buying didn’t have any idea either.”

And the Stadium isn’t the only bar that could face similar stipulations by the city. Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen is urging the City Council to adopt a resolution advising the SLA to move closing time to 2 a.m. for all new, transfer or renewing licensees located outside a designated “nightclub district.”

The new district includes an approximately two-block area extending from Caroline Street between Broadway and Henry Street, Putnam Street from Phila Street to Caroline Street, and Maple Avenue from Caroline Street to Lake Avenue. Businesses within the designated district would be the only ones permitted to sell on-premise alcohol until 4 a.m., according to a resolution Mathiesen introduced Monday to the City Council.

The resolution would then serve as an advisory opinion to the SLA, which would then set the hours a licensee could operate. In explaining the resolution, Mathiesen said the idea is to ensure adequate police protection for the area in the city with the most establishments that stay open past 2 a.m.

“Historically, this is where most of the places stay open late,” he said. “It’s easier to bring a large number of police and maintain a presence there.”

The resolution claims the city spends “well over $100,000” annually to maintain a police presence in the area designated as the nightclub district. It also cites “that aggressive, disruptive and belligerent behavior becomes progressively enhanced in the late night hours.”

The effort is Mathiesen’s latest foray seeking to curb the hours of operation for bars in the city, but his first to acknowledge some establishments should be allowed to stay open until 4 a.m. His effort to drop last call to 3 a.m. in 2012 was quashed after the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors — the governing body that has the jurisdiction to make the change — decided it would be better to allow businesses to decide their operating hours. He attempted to revive the issue again last year, with little success.

Mathiesen said his new approach to the issue was suggested by the SLA. He said most of the bars outside the designated district usually close by 2 a.m on their own.

“At this point, the fact of the matter is there really is a de facto early last call across most of the city anyway,” he said.

Mathiesen’s logic, however, doesn’t sit well with Fazzone or his clients. He said trimming two hours of sales could change the bottom line for a business not in the proposed district.

“It’s tantamount to a taking,” he said. “You’re taking two hours of their business and shoving people in a different direction.”

Fazzone is due to argue against the city’s request during a hearing with the SLA next week. He suggested the city, if bothered by the impact of policing its bars at night, establish a taxing district for late-night establishments to help offset the cost, instead of preventing them from staying open late by virtue of their location.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he said of Mathiesen’s resolution.

The resolution would ultimately affect Hattie’s Restaurant on Phila Street, which is located just outside the proposed district boundaries and does a robust late-night business during the summer that often extends beyond 2 a.m.

Hattie’s owner Jasper Alexander said imposing such a change would essentially devalue the business he’s nurtured over the years.

“I can’t understand why we would be drawing arbitrary lines in the sand … when we don’t even define what a nightclub district is,” he told the City Council during its meeting Tuesday.