It costs Reno business owners $5,000 to get a conditional-use permit to have any form of live music or entertainment past 11 p.m.
They can have any live music during the day. But after 11 p.m. — or 10 p.m. if it’s an outdoor event — they have to shut it off if they don’t have that permit.
The city of Reno is considering changing that.
At Wednesday’s city council meeting, assistant development services director Angela Fuss said business owners are pleading with the city to get rid of the conditional-use permit because it’s expensive and takes three months to go through the process.
A possible alternative, Fuss said, would be to let business owners create a security plan under their cabaret licenses, rather than the permitting process. She said this is because cabaret licenses are granted to owners, while permits stick with the property and land forever.
Right now, Fuss said, it’s a problem because when a property changes hands, the new owners may not be as good of neighbors as the former owners, and therefore may need different rules. If new rules or security plans are tied to the cabaret instead of the land permits, this puts the responsibility directly on the business owner.
“That would give us more teeth to be able to enforce something that they agreed to,” Fuss said.
She added that this is an ongoing topic of balancing a vibrant downtown and helping residents who complain of noise.
Council member Kathleen Taylor, who represents Ward 1 that includes downtown, told Fuss she wants to support local businesses and remove barriers for them locating downtown. She also wants to get rid of the bad actors faster.
Fuss said she plans to return to a future council meeting, possibly in April, with a potential resolution and further discussion on the live entertainment policies.
Jaedyn Young covers local government for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Her wages are 100% funded by donations and grants; if you’d like to see more stories like this one, please consider donating at RGJ.com/donate. Send your story ideas and feedback to Jaedyn at [email protected].
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