Bemidji State News Reporting S'11: Closing time changed

It’s official: restaurant and bar owners can stay open until 2 a.m.

By Kara Smyth and Nicole Solum

If students want to stay out until 2 a.m. at a bar they’re going to have to go to the bars that apply for the license. Since January 24^th, 2011, restaurant and bar owners have been able to apply for a license to be able to stay open until 2 a.m. Not all establishments will be open until 2 a.m. because it is their individual choice to do so.

In 2003, the Minnesota legislature changed the law to allow bars to close as late as 2 a.m. instead of 1 a.m. Each city then had to determine if they wanted the closing times to revert to the original 1 a.m. closing time. The City of Bemidji decided to do just that. Beltrami County never changed, they have always been at 2 a.m. The issue was raised again in 2010 when Zorbaz, a pizza restaurant, wanted to open up on the south shore of Bemidji. However, their business plan required a 2 a.m. closing time. In an interview, Kevin Waldhausen, city commissioner, brought up the fact that “for Bemidji to become a competitive regional hub of Minnesota, much like Duluth . . ., this needs to happen.”

Even though this topic has been decided, people in the community are still feeling despondent. Kay Murphy, Bemidji’s city clerk, expressed her feelings: “This topic has been overdone and needs to be dropped.” She also feels that the additional expenses would outweigh any profits made. Waldhausen feels that many city commissioners based their decision about this topic on personal opinions and not facts. “Government should never dictate morality,” said Waldhausen. “This has been changed into a moral issue, and it’s hard to change the minds of those who are set in old-time ways.”

As for bar and restaurant owners, their feelings are across the board. Steve Carter, owner of Corner Bar, will be applying for the license. “It’s weird to have people making decisions who know nothing about running a business,” said Carter. Carter sees the positives and negatives about this situation and is ready to accept them.

On the opposing side, Keg n’ Cork will not be applying for the license to stay open until 2 a.m. Manager Lou Davis feels that the extra costs will outweigh the revenue. “If the situation arises where I have to have the license to stay in business then I might apply for it,” said Davis. Some of the relevant extra costs if opened until 2 a.m. would include staff, heat, lights, higher insurance rates, and the actual cost of the license.

One bar that’s waiting for others to act first is Toasty Beaver’s (sic). “Were not going against the grain and be the only one who is open until 2 a.m.,” said Manager Chris Hunt. He also feels that “downtown Bemidji needs to make this decision together.” According to the law, however, it’s up to each bar individually to decide if they want to apply for the license and when.

One concern of Toasty Beaver’s and the Corner Bar is that customers may simply come out one hour later than they normally would. That would not create more time spent at the bar and would not increase revenue. In an informal survey of 55 BSU students, many stated that they would continue going to the bars at the same time as they did when they closed at 1 a.m. Also in the survey, many students said that they feel one negative to the situation is that more people will be drunk. They feel that a positive outcome from the situation was that it allows for more time to hang out at the bars.

Since this ordinance is already approved by the city council, those bars that want to stay open until 2 a.m. must apply for the license, which can be found on the city’s Web site. Once a restaurant and/or bar applies for the license, the State of Minnesota would need to approve the application and then the venue would have the legal right to stay open until 2 a.m.