The Lyric Owner Asks for Community's Support Against Proposed Ordinance

By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff writer
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

An ordinance that would require restaurants that serve alcohol to use ID scanners, form safety plans and use security cameras has changed several times since it was first proposed two months ago by the Oxford Board of Aldermen.

The area to which it would apply changed, as did the name of the ordinance. Changes were made to the ordinance requirements after aldermen received input from the public during several public hearings.
However, one section of the ordinance hasn’t changed and The Lyric Oxford is asking the public to help the event venue fight the rules the ordinance would place on them that other businesses would not have to follow.
 

An online petition has garnered more than 1,500 signatures as of this morning in support of The Lyric’s attempt to remove a part of the ordinance that would require a $75 payment to register each event.
The Lyric would then have to supply the Oxford Police Department with:

• Organizer or promoter’s name and contact information
• The name of the performer and contact information
• Security company’s information and whether they will be armed or unarmed;
• Whether alcohol will be sold
• An evacuation plan

“No other business in Oxford would be required to go through a registration process,” said Lyric owner Bradly Bishop in a public Facebook post asking for people to sign the petition. “If we want to show an Ole Miss football game, screen a film, host a fundraiser, a sorority formal, or the Southern Foodways Conference, we must give notice, and pay up to $75. This suppresses conduct, assembly, and the types of entertainment at our business. It treats citizens who rent The Lyric and artists like suspects.”
The Lyric is considered an event venue, which granted the business a waiver from the state’s requirement to sell a certain amount of food to be allowed to sell alcohol. 
While OPD cannot deny an event, the Lyric owner is concerned about the cost of the registration fees, which they estimate could be $15,000 a year, and the additional costs of whatever extra security or other requirements would be required pending a decision by OPD.
“We must seek advanced permission to know what other conditions will be forced upon an event,” the post states. “This is a veiled attempt to censor and control the kinds of entertainment and kinds of people allowed at The Lyric.”
Bishop said he already notifies OPD and city officials about upcoming events so they can make staffing decisions.
The Vote
A public hearing and possible vote will be held at the Oxford Board of Aldermen at 5 p.m. tonight at City Hall.
Some against the proposed ordinance say it’s a knee-jerk reaction to a shooting that occurred at The Lyric during the 2018 Double Decker Arts Festival weekend when a man shot a gun in the air during a fight inside the establishment. 
However, Mayor Robyn Tannehill has stated in several public hearings that the requirements being proposed in the entire ordinance, now dubbed, “Regulation and Safety of Patrons and Employees of Restaurants, Bars and Similar Businesses, Including Event Venues,” have been discussed by the Board of Aldermen and OPD for several years.
The ordinance would apply to all businesses in the city that are required by local or state law to obtain a permit for the sale, distribution or consumption of alcoholic beverages on site. Originally, it was proposed for a small area on the west side of the Square, where police officials say most of the issues with underage drinking and large crowds occur.
The ordinance requires bars to provide adequate supervision at their establishments; maintain the waiting lines in front of their building by using a rope or other crowd device; have security cameras at all entry and exit doors, open common areas, in front of bathrooms (but not inside the bathroom) and any other public area; use ID scanners to help reduce the number of minors using fake ID cards; and work with OPD to create an evacuation and safety plan.
The proposed ordinance can be read on the city of Oxford’s website.

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