Baltimore's night scene, from dance clubs and karaoke bars to stand-up comedy and poetry slams, could get a boost under a bill expected to be introduced today in the City Council.
The proposal, sponsored by City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, would ease zoning restrictions on restaurants and taverns offering live entertainment. Instead, the bill would create a five-member board that would license the businesses.
Rawlings-Blake, who has long championed the city's entertainment sector, said she hopes the measure will encourage restaurants and taverns to offer customers something more than drinking games - but also protect residents who live near bars.
"One of the ways that we can really be competitive is to create a city where people want to live," said Rawlings-Blake. "There's an economic component to enhancing our arts, entertainment and dining in the city."
The proposal, which a Rawlings-Blake aide said is modeled after similar ordinances in San Francisco and Seattle, would remove restrictions that prohibit existing restaurants and taverns from offering live entertainment in some zoning districts.
In exchange, the city would create a five-member board that would grant annual licenses to businesses such as dance clubs, magic bars and taverns that offer live music. Before granting a license, the board would consider the type of entertainment, its volume and the establishment's plan for parking and traffic.
"I'm all for it," said Ken Horsman, owner of Illusions Magic Bar and Lounge in Federal Hill, where patrons can watch magic shows as they drink. "The city gets thousands of tourists, and we need to offer them more than just liquor and food."
But some neighborhood leaders said they are wary of removing the more stringent zoning requirements for live entertainment. Gerald Majer, crime and land-use committee chair of the Upper Fells Point Improvement Association, said city boards tend to favor businesses over residents.
The neighborhood group is currently engaged in a dispute over live entertainment with the former Timothy Dean Bistro, a well-known restaurant that reopened last month as T.D. Lounge, a jazz club that stays open until 2 a.m.
"This bill needs to be really, really carefully worked out," Majer said. "Potentially what we're doing is politicizing a zoning use. We're making it a political matter."
Both Majer and Horsman said they have not had an opportunity to see the details of Rawlings-Blake's proposal.
