By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City plans to liven up its summer entertainment scene by extending the hours for music and dancing at outdoor bars and restaurants by one hour on weekend nights.
City Council is considering an ordinance that would allow music, dancing and entertainment outdoors until 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Currently, there is a 9 p.m. curfew for outdoor entertainment all days of the week. Under the new plan, the 9 p.m. curfew would remain in effect Monday through Thursday.
The proposal for longer weekend hours could face some resistance when Council meets at 9 a.m. Saturday to vote on it. The special meeting is being held on Saturday to coincide with Sea Isle’s annual Community Day festivities, which begin at 10 a.m.
Already, Councilman Jack Gibson has indicated he opposes extending the weekend hours for outdoor entertainment. He believes playing music later at night would disturb the neighbors living next to the bars and restaurants.
“I think it would be a serious mistake to extend music by an hour,” Gibson said during the May 2 board meeting of the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization.
Gibson predicted there will be “a swell of people against it.”
Christopher Glancey, president of the Chamber of Commerce, urged restaurateurs and other members of the business community to attend Saturday’s Council meeting to “make your voice heard.”
As part of a broader package of proposed regulatory changes to make Sea Isle more attractive to tourists, Council has also been discussing the idea of extending the dining and drinking hours for outdoor bars and restaurants.
The ordinance to push back the hours for music and entertainment to 10 p.m. on weekends is being considered first by Council. At Council’s May 30 meeting, the governing body will vote on an ordinance to extend the hours for dining and drinking outdoors from the current 11 p.m. curfew to midnight.
Introduced in 2008, sidewalk dining has been hugely popular among summer tourists who enjoy dining outdoors. Councilman John Divney has credited the attraction for creating a more upscale ambiance for Sea Isle’s culinary scene and erasing the city’s image as “a bar town.”
“It’s been a great experience,” Divney said.
Divney lobbied for changes to the regulations after listening to suggestions from the restaurant community and the Chamber of Commerce on ways to enhance the dining atmosphere.
Proponents on Council hope to have the changes ready in time for the busy summer tourism season. However, there will be a sunset clause that would allow Council to revisit the issue in a year to see if the regulations need to be revised again.
Extending the hours for drinking alcoholic beverages until midnight has generated the most concern among the Council members. Councilwoman Mary Tighe has said she does not want to see sidewalk dining become “sidewalk drinking.” Gibson has said he is opposed to longer drinking hours.
Divney, who appeared with Gibson at the May 2 Chamber of Commerce board meeting, said he hopes Council and the entire community will carefully consider each proposed change in the dining, drinking and entertainment regulations
“If we don’t like one part, let’s not kill the whole thing,” Divney told the Chamber.
