Q: What’s scarier than Halloween?
A: The prospect of no new bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, or hotels in Royal Oak for another two years.
This Nov. 3, there will be a surprising option on your voting ballots–a two year moratorium on all new liquor licenses in Royal Oak. How did this happen? Well, Royal Oak’s city council deadlocked on whether to allow an Emagine theatre complex, featuring ten movie screens, sixteen bowling lanes, and a VIP bar open until 2am. Also a Gus-O’Connor type place and a Bar Louie were in the works. Well, okay. Can’t say you didn’t see that one coming.
According to the blog Protect Royal Oak, which supports the moratorium, the Emagine complex alone would require 972 parking spots alone in the Main North area, by the Main Art Theatre. Nevertheless, RO’s commission approved the license transfer from Berkley on Sept. 14, according to the Detroit News. Emboldened by the threat of a “mega-entertainment center” on Main (and with the supposed help of some pleading waitresses at Mr. B’s), opponents got enough signatures to put the question of the ban on this year’s ballot. These supporters managed to transform the issue from a “Bar vs. No Bar” debate–their blog boasts countless references to their stand against “big box development.” According to city commissioner Chuck Samchena, public safety is another main issue:
City Commissioner Chuck Semchena said anemic staffing levels in the Royal Oak Police Department have meant reduced manpower across town. The department has gone from 104 sworn officers to 80 in the last five years.
“It’s pretty well known that some types of saloons create a lot of policing, that manpower is devoted to them. The fear is we will be short of officers in the neighborhoods,” said Semchena, a former city attorney.
The article didn’t ponder whether 78,000 square foot development like Emagine could create jobs and add to the city’s tax base (thus creating a few new roles on the R.O. Five-Oh). It’s opinion time. This ban is a bad idea. It’s bad because it doesn’t just punish giant corporate developers. It means nobody can open a bar, restaurant, or entertainment attraction in the city–not your friend the young chef, not the older couple with plans for an Italian joint, and certainly not the destination hotel City Council dreams of installing downtown. In theory, it’s much like this winning law that helps keep renegade day care centers off the streets.
Opponents of the moratorium have created a great new website called Friends of Downtown Royal Oak. They have some interesting statistics to add to the debate: for example, crime in 2008 was down 41 percent in Royal Oak. (So much for all those saloons.) There’s also this gem of a slideshow, which alleges that, in the hopes of stifling competition, several Royal Oak bar owners supporting the ban donated $5,300 to several members of city council. What’s more damning? Those bar owners aren’t even Royal Oak residents.
I look forward to getting some good criticism and opinions on this post, and I really welcome hearing from proponents of the ban. Nevertheless, I think the moratorium on liquor licenses is a terrible idea. Destroying competition and future business opportunities is the LAST thing any Michigan city should be doing right now. New bars, restaurants, hotels, bowling alley: they all help in several ways:
- creating “buzz” in the local media to drive visitors,
- contributing to the tax base, and
- providing jobs (!!!)
Most importantly, they help establish Royal Oak’s claim as a truly walkable, thriving, diverse, modern community. Any moratorium on liquor licenses will destroy competition. If you want to help Berkley or Ferndale establish their claims as the top entertainment destinations in Metro Detroit, this is the best way to go about it. There are enough empty storefronts already in the Royal without anyone’s help.
What good comes from a 2-year ban, anyway? And what’s next? A town-enforced vow of sobriety? Will young Royal Oak denizens now spend Saturday nights playing Yahtzee or sitting in on knitting circles? Nah. If Royal Oak continues in this vein, they’ll just move out. I can’t imagine any hip, booming district or neighborhood in San Francisco or Portland, Austin or NYC pulling this kind of stunt.
I read the NYT and the NYer pretty regularly–seems like a new gastropub or sustainable eatery opens just in Williamsburg every week. That’s what makes Brooklyn the most exciting new destination in North America for food and drinks, as well as a great community for raising a family. Why we would do exactly the opposite of what every progressive city in the country advocates is beyond me.
A final note: I am not necessarily advocating for the Emagine development (or sayin’ we should try to be exactly like NYC). I think the Main Art should be respected and protected–after all, it’s anchored the downtown strip for years. I am wondering whether the magician developers of Emagine will now conjure up a new parking garage to avoid a horrendous parking and traffic problem downtown. But I think we elect our local representatives to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis. You don’t like the Emagine development? Great. Protest it. But destroying every potential business venture downtown for the sake of one defeat, truly, seems like cutting off your entire head to spite your face.
What’s scarier than Halloween? A downtown that looks like this:
Image courtesy of Friends of Downtown Royal Oak
This article brought to you by the good folks at Urbane Hotels Royal Oak Michigan, Urbane Hotels Southfield Michigan, Urbane Hotels Troy Michigan, and Urbane Hotels Detroit Michigan.
