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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) \u2014 Montgomery residents packed City Hall Tuesday night as city leaders made a major decision about the downtown entertainment district following Saturday night\u2019s mass shooting.<\/p>\n
Jud Blount, a third-generation investor in the capital city and owner of several restaurants, including the upscale Italian eatery Ravello on Commerce Street, voiced frustration about safety and the future of downtown commerce.<\/p>\n
Blount told council members he is reconsidering plans to open a new restaurant in the historic Winter Building after this weekend\u2019s violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cSunday, I was cleaning blood off the sidewalk in front of Ravello because we had an event that afternoon,\u201d Blount said. \u201cThe loitering and the entertainment district are not working.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blount said large crowds loitering on sidewalks and the city\u2019s entertainment district policy \u2014 which allows open containers of alcohol in designated areas \u2014 have created ongoing problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was supposed to be a strong summer,\u201d Blount said. \u201cRavello was down 13%, and we were counting on a good fourth quarter. Now, that\u2019s shot. It\u2019s killing us \u2014 it\u2019s hurting small businesses in downtown Montgomery. Every business I\u2019ve talked to wants this gone. None of the tourists that are coming to EJI are walking around with drinks. I own Red Bluff Bar and we\u2019re not selling drinks at Red Bluff for people to walk around.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said patrons have cancelled several events at his restaurants since the shooting, and some long-time residents are wary about coming downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see police on the ground moving people along \u2014 not sitting in their cars,\u201d Blount said. \u201cSome of the videos I\u2019ve seen have been terrible. There are 100, 150 people on the corner of Commerce and Bibb, smoking dope. I\u2019m running a high-end Italian restaurant \u2014 \u00a0it\u2019s hard to have people come out from Ravello and then there\u2019s pot smoke. It\u2019s just not the right scene that we need on Commerce Street in Montgomery.\u201d<\/p>\n
District 7 Councilman Andrew Szymanski said part of the problem is a lack of enforcement of the entertainment district ordinance, which requires patrons to carry alcoholic beverages in designated green cups.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an ordinance on the books, but we\u2019re not enforcing it,\u201d Szymanski said. \u201cHow many green cups do you see downtown? We don\u2019t stop people, we don\u2019t check cups.\u201d<\/p>\n
After lengthy discussion, the council voted unanimously to suspend the downtown entertainment district designation indefinitely.<\/p>\n
District 3 Councilwoman Marche Johnson said she believes the decision was overdue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important because if we had done this prior to, we may have prevented what happened over the weekend,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cLooking at the footage and the pictures, there was a huge crowd right there on that corner of Commerce and Bibb.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council also announced plans to discuss a citywide youth curfew at a committee meeting scheduled for October 17.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n