LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It has been a summer of gunshots and police tape across Louisville and in the Highlands.
Since June 17, there have been four shootings on Bardstown Road with three ending in fatalities.
District 8 Councilwoman Cassie Chambers Armstrong said the Highlands are packed with people at night and hopes rolling back liquor license hours from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. will send people home sooner.
"The existence of that density of 4 a.m. bars is sort of creating this atmosphere where people feel they can come here and do whatever they want," she said.
Armstrong said they are surveying people on how they feel about the issue and so far, 155 people had responded with 68% saying they support the move.
The idea isn’t new.
Shawn Reilly is the Tyler Park neighborhood president and said he can’t remember seeing this number of shootings on Bardstown Road in his lifetime.
He said the neighborhood has already passed a resolution encouraging the city to close all bars on Bardstown Road at 2 a.m.
There has been pushback. The owner of the Back Door near Mid City Mall said they have lost revenue due to the pandemic and it would hurt their business even more.
Others point to the time of those past shootings, only one happened after 2 a.m.
Feelings are mainly split on the issue. It’s the reason why Councilwoman Armstrong said she had not decided.
If Armstrong wants to make the change, the deadline for new business in Metro Council is Monday.
"Even once it's introduced, there is still a lot of room to negotiate and have conversations and have community input. I don't want anyone to feel like I'm springing anything on them, and I want to make sure everyone feels like they understand what I'm trying to accomplish and why," she said.
She said she doesn’t think she will be ready to make the decision in time for the deadline. Instead, Armstrong is asking Metro Council President David James for an extension, planning to decide later this week.
If you would like to have your voice heard on the issue before a decision is made, click here.
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