Bars to present safety plans to city

A drink in College Park can cost less than a dollar and demand for one never lags. City officials have long feared this combination, and last summer they asked bar owners to create individual plans to clamp down on the chaotic atmosphere downtown.

Tomorrow, owners from the city's biggest bars will present those plans. The council requested the proposals six weeks ago following the re-emergence of dirt-cheap drinks last year and a spate of downtown incidents.

"We had met actually about a month and a half ago in which we discussed concerns with the [drink] specials being priced so low," College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman said. "I asked them all to come up with action plans, so we're hoping at the meeting that we hear from the bar owners."

Bob Ryan, the city's director of public services, said city officials were also generally concerned with underage drinking, overcrowding, crowd management and violence both inside and outside the bars. But the city has not given the bar owners specific guidelines for their plans.

"Public safety in general is the city's primary concern," Ryan said. "Some of the things we would hope to see in their plan is how are they are going to handle their crowds. Are they managing those so people don't get pushed in the street? Does [the line] go outside? Does it go inside? Are they checking IDs? There's a liability to the bar owners if young kids get in."

And in the past, they have. In May, Santa Fe Cafe was fined $5,000 for serving someone underage.

One month earlier, two downtown bars broke a "gentleman's agreement" between bar owners and the City Council that kept alcohol prices above $1 a drink. Cornerstone Grill and Loft was rumored to have served 50-cent rail drinks, and a Thirsty Turtle special advertises $1 beer pitchers.

Cornerstone owner Mark Srour, who also owns the currently closed Santa Fe and The Mark, has said the agreement had "gone out the window" and blamed other bars for breaking it first, saying that competition forced him to follow suit.

But so far, bar owners have been tight-lipped about what they'll bring to the council.

Srour declined to comment for this story, and Bentley's owner John Brown could not be reached for comment.

Alan Wanuck, who owns the Thirsty Turtle, would not give away specifics about his presentation, but did promise he has been taking the process seriously.

"The whole point of these meetings is to evaluate your establishment." Wanuck said. "We know what we're doing right now."

Wanuck said the meetings would be important to "get everybody on the same page."

"Lets see who's serious and who's not serious," he said. "I'm curious to see what the other two have done, if they've done anything."

Wanuck said a meeting this summer has already been helpful. As a result, "No Loitering" signs were posted near Thirsty Turtle and other areas of Route 1 in an effort to control crowding outside bars, which can sometimes lead to crimes.

"In my opinion, the students as the customers in general have control of their environment," Ryan said. "If they're someplace where they don't feel safe, they should leave."

University Police will also be present at tomorrow's meeting in an observatory role, according to spokesman Paul Dillon, because the discussion "definitely has a cause and effect on our end."

"Any communication or processes or procedures that minimize binge drinking ... and underage drinking is always a good thing," Dillon said.

Wanuck stressed that he realized the importance of ongoing, open communication between the police, city officials and bar owners.

"If the area's not safe, then we all go out of business." Wanuck said. "That's what it comes down to."

rhodes at umdbk dot com