Pensacola officially bans bottle clubs, eases rules on small restaurants serving liquor

Bottle clubs are no longer allowed in Pensacola, but small restaurants will get an alternative path to having a full liquor bar under a new ordinance that passed Thursday night.

The Pensacola City Council voted 6-1 to pass the new ordinance to reform the city's regulations around bars and restaurants.

The ordinance arose out of a controversy over the location of the Casks and Flights Wine Tasting Room on Palafox Street.

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Pensacola only allows one bar per city block but excludes bars located on corner lots. Businesses that operate under a restaurant liquor license or only serve beer and wine are also not counted.

Potential solution: Casks and Flights owner says it's more than a bar, a distinction that could help it stay open

The city considered any business that operates under a state-issued liquor license called a "4COP" to be a bar even if it served food. Those types of licenses are limited in supply by the state and much more expensive than a restaurant liquor license. They allow a business to serve liquor without also having to sell food.

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Traditional restaurant liquor licenses are cheaper, but the state requires those businesses to have at least 150 seats and make 51% or more of their revenue through food sales.

Casks and Flights obtained a 4COP license during the COVID-19 pandemic and ran afoul of the city's restriction on the number of bars.

The new ordinance adds a provision allowing businesses with at least 25 seats and a state food license to be considered restaurants even if they sell liquor under the 4COP license. Businesses operating without a food license are still considered bars.

The ordinance also bans bottle clubs that allow patrons to bring their own alcohol to be served by a bartender. There are no currently operating bottle clubs in the city, but in the past, they have caused controversy, especially when they've been the location of violence.

The ordinance passed the first vote 6-1 in April, with Councilwoman Allison Patton voting against the measure. City ordinances require two votes at separate meetings before they can go into effect.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves put forward an amendment in an attempt to address Patton's concerns from April that the ordinance would allow for bars to be opened close to residential neighborhoods.

The amendment added a restriction that prohibits restaurants with 4COP licenses and less than 150 seats from opening within 500 feet of a residential zone, school or a church, unless the church agrees. The council unanimously supported the mayor's amendment, but it still wasn't enough for Patton to support passing the ordinance.

John McCorvey, the owner of Casks and Flights Wine Tasting Room, along with about 50 patrons and supporters, showed up to the meeting Thursday to advocate for the ordinance change.

McCorvey also said he had collected more than 900 signatures in an online petition supporting the change.

Many supporters said at previous meetings it was unfair the current ordinance was being used against the only Black-owned business on Palafox Street when it could be argued other businesses were also in violation of the single bar per block rule.

Patton said she voted against the ordinance because she believed it could open the door to allowing bars where they weren't allowed in the past and not about McCorvey's business which she said she supported.

"I was trying to come up with a compromise that would allow us to have both of those things," Patton said. "It was about that, and it's always been about trying to come up with a balanced approach and compromise. I hoped that I would be able to do that, but I didn't."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola bans bottle clubs, but Casks and Flights gets path to stay