LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As hundreds of headlights traveled down Bardstown Road, they met the glowing open sign of a mostly empty Café 360 storefront.
As the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) weighs the Louisville ABC's request for an emergency suspension of Café 360's license in the aftermath of a fatal shooting, city officials pressed forward with a proposal to give Louisville ABC that authority in the future.
The proposed ordinance amendment, which the Metro Council Public Safety Committee passed Wednesday, would tweak Louisville ABC regulations.
This would allow the agency to issue immediate, emergency license suspensions in cases where there’s a threat to public safety, health or welfare across the county. However, if one is issued, the licensee would be granted a suspension hearing within three days.
"We need to make sure that we have every available resource in our professionals' hands to be able to deal with those threats," Councilman Rick Blackwell, D-District 12, said. "It's really important for our local ABC folks who've seen the emergency in front of them to be able to act."
Sunday's incident did not directly inspire the proposal, Blackwell said, but did exemplify ongoing issues those behind it want to address.
"That occurred on [Sunday], you're having on Wednesday -- we're still, we're still deciding whether it's an emergency," he said. "If this law were in place, the difference would be our local ABC administrator could say 'okay, it is clearly an emergency. We're shutting it down.'"
Blackwell said during proposal talks, which began months ago, businesses shared concerns over the potential for abuse of power, to which he responded by saying a new version of his ordinance will list specific conditions of what qualifies as an emergency.
They include:
- a violation that directly contributes to death or serious injury
- a firearm being discharged
- excessive complaints requiring law enforcement to expend an unordinary amount of resources in a six month period
- manmade or natural events that have put the site in a position where it poses a serious threat
"It's to make sure that this language was both fair to bar and restaurant owners, but also took into consideration the issue, which is violence," Louisville Hospitality Association's Sean Vandevander said.
Louisville Metro Council is set to vote on the proposal on Thursday during it's regularly scheduled public meeting.
"(Everyone) collaborated and all of us unusually agreed," Metro ABC Director Brad Silveria said. "There's not very many times in my experience where government industry can come together [like that] -- and like, nobody wants to see a bad actor in business."
Blackwell sponsored the proposal with Metro Councilman Ben Reno-Weber, D-District 8, who represents several neighborhoods that became scenes of this past weekend's shootings.
“These senseless and tragic shootings in the Highlands and Bon Air, as well as those devastating families and neighborhoods across Louisville, only add to the urgency of our efforts to keep our neighborhoods safe from gun violence,” Reno-Weber said during a press conference on Monday. “We have been working closely with ABC and LMPD on these initial concrete steps, and we have some additional actions we will be announcing soon.”
Metro ABC made a request to state ABC officials to suspend the liquor license of Café 360 on Monday. The Kentucky Department of ABC currently holds the authority to issue emergency suspensions.
Café 360's owner, who didn't want to be identified, told WHAS11 on Monday he's troubled by the fight that escalated inside his bar -- leading to the deadly shooting. He said he'll be hiring security moving forward to better keep customers safe.
The business, which was closed Monday as police returned to continue their investigation, is open again.
Police are still working to determine what happened inside Café 360.
If you have any information that can help police in their investigation, you are asked to call the Anonymous Tip Line at (502) 574-LMPD or use their online Crime Tip Portal.
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