Lyric Oxford Offers Alternative to Bar Safety Ordinance

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

Since the Oxford Board of Aldermen, Mayor Robyn Tannehill and Oxford Police Chief Joey East presented an ordinance to create additional security guards, cameras and additional regulations for event venues, the owner of The Lyric Oxford has made it well known he has many issues with the proposed changes.

However, on Tuesday afternoon, attorneys representing The Lyric Oxford emailed their continuing concerns about the ordinance, but this time, offered alternative wording.
The proposed Regulation and Safety of Patrons and Employees of Restaurants, Bars and Similar Businesses, Including Event Venues ordinance, once known as the Downtown District ordinance, requires all local restaurants serving alcohol to include additional security guards, cameras and the use of ID scanners to check for fake ID cards.
It listed additional regulations for The Lyric, since it is the only state-registered official event venue in the city of Oxford, that included a $75 fee to register each event held at the venue, unless a regularly repeating event, and provide OPD with information about the event such as the name of the performer and approximate crowd expected.
In the email sent to the mayor and Board of Aldermen Friday from the Harris-Shelton law firm, the Lyric suggests requiring event venues to provide the $75 fee and such information when it’s a ticketed event that is expected to have 750 or more people attending. The Lyrics would provide the date and hours of the event, anticipated crowd and the number of security personnel that will be hired for the event.
“Within 24 hours of the event time, the business shall provide updated estimated ticket sales …” the email stated.
Missing is the city’s proposed requirement to provide the name of the performer or organization holding the event.
“All performance events drawing a certain size crowd should be staffed similarly, regardless of the content or type of performance and law enforcement should not be permitted to impose individualized security measures if not correlated to crowd size and type of event,” the email stated.
In a separate letter also sent Friday from Harris-Shelton – this time representing The Lyric and The Library Sports Grill – the law firm suggests that much of wording of the proposed ordinance that would affect all restaurants that serve alcohol, comes from a 2011 New York Police Department publications, “Best Practices for Nightlife Establishment, with several sections copied verbatim.
The owners of the Lyric and Library contend that Oxford is very different than New York and that more consideration should be given from the input of Oxford businesses to revise the proposed ordinance.
Mayor OK with removing name of performer/event
Tannehill said OPD officers did look at the New York policy, as well as several others from Athens, Georgia and other areas while creating the ordinance and that the current version of the ordinance is much different than the first because of the input the board has received from the public at several public meetings.
“The ordinance has changed about 15 times and I believe it’s gotten better each time,” Tannehill said Tuesday.
While the mayor does not vote, unless there is a tie, Tannehill said she will be recommending another change to the ordinance where the requirement to supply the same of the performer and/or organization renting The Lyric be removed as well as the wording that would allow OPD to impose additional requirements depending on who was performing.
“I do believe we need to know what type of event it is, whether it’s a wedding or a concert,” Tannehill said. “That’s what I’m going to recommend, but it’s up to the board.”
The Board of Aldermen is expected to discuss the proposed ordinance at its next regular meeting at 5 p.m., Aug. 7 at City Hall.