Iowa City takes first step in approving ‘entertainment venues’

The City Council is taking measures to ensure the curtain doesn't fall on people younger than 21 who want to attend a concert in an Iowa City bar.

The council Monday night, with little comment, gave unanimous approval to the first reading of an ordinance that would establish “entertainment venues” that would be exempt from the city's 21-only ordinance. Two more readings are necessary for the ordinance to become law.

Also Monday, the council approved another option for bars with an ordinance that allows them to physically separate their spaces into alcohol-free and alcohol-allowed areas during city-approved special events like concerts

The 21-only law bans people younger than 21 from being in bars after 10 p.m. The council's goal in passing the law was to get a handle on binge drinking, especially among people under the legal drinking age.

But operators of bars that specialize in live music said the law, which took effect June 1, has hurt their ability to afford and attract the national acts the help give Iowa City a vibrant music scene.

The city attorney's office worked closely with representatives from those bars in crafting the language for the entertainment venue designation.

The ordinance would limit entertainment venues to those establishments that offer live music, comedy acts or poetry or prose readings. DJs do not count.

The venues would be required to have a permanent stage and professional lighting, put on shows at least 150 days a year and give at least 50 percent of the door receipts to the acts.

A portion of the show would have to last past 10 p.m., which would prevent a bar from hosting a concert in the afternoon in an effort to essentially skirt the 21-only law.

Patrons of an entertainment venue would have to be at least 19 years old, but 19- and 20-year-olds would have to leave by midnight.

The council said it would revoke the entertainment designation from an establishment caught selling alcohol to an underage person twice in a five-year period, as well as those with too many underage people found in possession of alcohol.

Voters will decide Nov. 2 whether to keep or repeal the 21-only law. If it is overturned, the split-venue and entertainment venue ordinances would be automatically repealed.