DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bars and restaurants in Daytona Beach are currently allowed to stay open until 3 a.m. but the mayor is looking to change that to 2 a.m.
Mayor Derrick Henry brought the topic up during the March 17 city commission meeting. Before Wednesday’s meeting, commission members were expected to get crime statistics they wanted to go over before having the discussion about possibly changing the times.
“We are the only city in Volusia County that has the last call for alcohol exceed the 2 o’clock limit,” Henry said during the meeting in March.
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The mayor said bars closing an hour earlier could cut down on police and fire costs.
“There’s no doubt we have the most violent crime in the wee hours of the morning,” he said.
Commission members said they wanted to see statistics between midnight and 4 a.m.
Daytona Beach police showed News 6 its updated crime map on Wednesday. It shows officers responded to about a dozen calls during that time frame in the last week.
“There will be a bigger crowd coming out of the bars at two in the morning than there will be at three in the morning because naturally the crowd is going to thin out the later it gets,” said Richard Kitt.
Kitt owns Daytona Tap Room and several other bars and restaurants on Seabreeze Boulevard.
“Seabreeze Boulevard is already being revitalized and them shutting down the bars and the restaurants at an earlier time is only going to crush that,” he said.
It is not clear at this time when city commission will discuss the topic again.
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