Tuscaloosa City Council puts a hold on new bar licenses

The Tuscaloosa city council voted Tuesday night to put new bar and pub applications on hold until Dec. 31.“It was nothing unexpected,” said Brandon Owens, the Alabama Beverage Licenses Association executive director.The decision comes after Tuscaloosa police Chief Brent Brantley expressed concerns because the department is short on officers. Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WVTM 13 “We do chase groups all around town after closing, and that uses a lot of manpower,” Chief Brantley said.Officials said TPD staffing issues could lead to public safety concerns for bar owners as well.“Crowding has been a big problem lately,” Owens said, “we want to see that not be as bad as it has been in the past on the streets.”There’s also the fear of overcrowding in the downtown area, pushing potential business owners to move their bars closer to residential neighborhoods, and that could frustrate homeowners.“We’re not keeping anybody from getting a license because we cleared that two weeks ago,” council president Kip Tyner said. “We had two in the pipeline. They had public hearings. We were able to pass one and denied one.”They hope this will be an opportunity to sit down and really think about how to better serve the people.Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube“We want to sit down with the current owners of bars and kind of get their ideas as well,” Chief Blankley said. “Because we always want to improve safety because it helps everybody, and it helps us. We want to keep Tuscaloosa a nice place to be.”The moratorium will last until Dec. 30. Council president Tyner said it could be extended or pushed up if needed.