SEBASTIAN — Now that Vero Beach has given the go-ahead for a later 2 a.m. bar closing time, albeit on a one-year trial basis, the city of Sebastian finds itself odd-man-out, as Brevard County to the north also has the later closing hour.
But even though most bar owners would like to be able to stay open an extra hour, the City Council appears to be in no rush to follow Vero’s lead.
It has been quite a number of years since the subject came before Sebastian’s city fathers, and Councilwoman Andrea Coy said that it simply isn’t an issue in Sebastian at this time.
Currently, Sebastian’s bar curfew is 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and Midnight on Sunday.
Emil Franke, owner of Earl’s Hideaway, would “like to have a level playing field.” With Brevard County and now Vero Beach having a 2 a.m. closing time, “We’d like to share the same privileges, to have the option of staying open until 2.”
Earl’s manager Franni Southern says Sebastian is changing.
“It isn’t the sleepy little bedroom community it used to be. There is more night life and I see more and more younger faces.”
No Name Bar owner Damien Gilliams remembers approaching the City Council many years ago and getting turned down. He’s in favor of the extra hour, as people 21 and up are “adults, know what they can handle and will call a Club Car or have a designated driver.”
The issue will ultimately come back to the bar management, Gilliams says, as his servers know when to cut someone off. Regarding the danger involved in someone drinking that extra hour and driving, Gilliams reasons that people who aren’t ready to call it a night at 1 a.m. will just drive to Vero or Brevard County, which will put them on the road even more than if they had remained closer to home.
Plus, he adds, the City is losing out on taxes going to other towns and counties.
Will Collins, manager of Capt. Hiram’s, says his operation is not as much a late-night spot as in previous years. Although there are certainly times, special holidays and events, he says, when it would “benefit us” to have the later option, “I’m not really pushing for it. If it were on the ballot, I’d vote for it, but I wouldn’t go against the city” on the issue.