Restaurant owners wanting to end liquor sales earlier to balance safety and nightlife in downtown Kissimmee have reached the ears of city council members who say they could support it.

It’s a conversation that’s spreading across Central Florida after downtown Orlando overhauled its nightlife ordinance to add permits to sell alcohol after midnight and other measures.

Some downtown Kissimmee restaurant owners want city commissioners to pass an ordinance to have businesses stop serving alcohol by 1 a.m. Others say such a move will bankrupt them. The city of Kissimmee currently allows liquor sales until 2 a.m.

In order for next steps to be taken to create an ordinance, Kissimmee City Manager Mike Steigerwald and development services director Craig Holland, said restaurant owners need to send emails or talk directly to commissioners, then a public workshop would be created to draft such a proposal.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is the agency that regulates liquor licenses in the state. As of 2021, there were 743 active licenses in Osceola County, according to the latest records.

The city of Kissimmee does not allow standalone bars; rather, every establishment that wants to sell alcohol must obtain a liquor license from the state, a zoning clearance letter from the city and serve prepared food. For restaurants in the Downtown Kissimmee Community Redevelopment Area to get their zoning clearance letter, they must have at least 80 seats and 1,800 square feet. Those who meet the requirements must pay about $250 for their zoning clearance license.

Holland, who oversees planning and zoning, inspections, licensing, code enforcement and the Downtown and Vine Street Community Redevelopment areas, said most of the rules in Kissimmee, including the rule against free-standing bars, date back to the 1970s when the city was a rough place and safety was a top priority for officials.

“It was also to just keep a variety of businesses on Vine Street and places like that,” Holland said. “You don’t want somebody going in and opening up an 800-foot liquor store and then having so many of these.”

Today, Holland said, there is an age gap between the customers at restaurants that is causing problems.

“We’ve had a few businesses, for lack of a better term, you know, that cause trouble because they tend to attract younger crowds and they’re crowds that start late. … Sometimes, they have firearms,” Holland said. “We’ve been really lucky no one’s been hurt or killed but we have had a few gunfire incidences and then you have businesses that are, you know, catered for a more mature crowd, a more relaxed crowd.”

Jackie Espinosa, owner of Matador Tacos and Tapas Bar, said she is worried for the safety of her staff, customers and the Kissimmee Police Department.

“I think something should happen where we have to provide our own security because that seems to be the issue. After a certain hour, things get a little rambunctious,” Espinosa said. “Why should we risk [KPD’s] safety because we have people that don’t know how to hold their liquor?”

Espinosa said she has had consistent safety issues at her downtown Kissimmee restaurant and closes at midnight to avoid it, taking about a 15-20% cut in sales for closing earlier.

In between Espinosa’s restaurant and the back parking lot there is a shed where she often finds drunk party-goers urinating, she said.

“We have to go in and hose my shed down. It’s disgusting,” Espinosa said.

Another problem Espinosa has had is intoxicated people coming in from other restaurants asking to use her restroom. She and her staff refuse if they are too drunk.

“If you tell them no they’re ready to fight,” Espinosa said. “My servers should never have to be exposed to that and it’s just an unfortunate thing.”

‘We’re going to hurt the downtown’

On the other side, Felix Ortiz, owner of 3 Sisters Speakeasy, said downtown Kissimmee has grown recently and ending liquor sales earlier would hurt the growth.

“We’re going to hurt the downtown again. There’s going to be no foot traffic; there’s going to be no employment,” Ortiz said. “If we do that all our customers are going to go to Orlando.”

Downtown Kissimmee has recently seen major investments. In 2016, the city broke ground on a $65-million redevelopment project that transformed 10 acres into residential and commercial hubs. In May, the city broke ground an $87-million, 20-acre project called The Allen, which includes 312 multifamily apartments at market rate and 16 units reserved at affordable rates, according to a press release.

“This development marks a significant milestone for the City of Kissimmee, as we strive to create a more attractive lifestyle out here,” Kissimmee Mayor Olga Gonzalez said in the release. “This is a public-private partnership that is bound to contribute to the strength of Kissimmee’s overall economy.”

Ortiz said ending liquor sales earlier would hurt his business because he makes most of his profit after midnight. He said closing at midnight would cut his profit by 10-15% and would force him to reduce his roughly 21 employees.

“We’re going to have to let go some employees because I’m not going to be able to afford everybody,” Ortiz said. “And that’s the hard part.”

Ortiz said a reduction in profit would also mean he wouldn’t be able to afford to do special charity events at his restaurant.

“We do events for kids with cancer. … I did an event in March with the police officers and firefighters and we raised about $20,000,” Ortiz said.

At a recent town hall meeting, two Kissimmee city commissioners told the Orlando Sentinel that, if the majority of downtown bars and restaurants wanted to end liquor sales early, they would vote to pass it.

“If it’s something that the majority of people, want we will pass something,” Vice Mayor Olga Castano said. “It has to be a majority though.”

‘Day downtown, nighttime downtown’

This follows downtown Orlando’s recent controversial changes to nightlife that went into effect on May 1, which require bars wanting to serve alcohol after midnight to have a permit and hire off-duty officers as security. Venues with capacities of at least 125 are required to hire at least one officer while larger venues have to hire as many as three.

Melbourne city council members also discussed safety in their downtown culture at a meeting Tuesday, following a shooting last weekend that began as a bar fight.

Melbourne Chief of Police David Gillespie spoke at the meeting and said the shooting left three people with gunshot wounds. Gillespie said there’s a downtown patrol squad every weekend and the police department hosts quarterly meetings with bar and restaurant owners to discuss safety, but more needs to be done.

“You often hear we have a day downtown and a nighttime downtown and it brings in different clientele,” Gillespie said. “I believe we also need to consider some additional legislation, whether it’s an ordinance or something that has a little more teeth for us to be able to hold some of these businesses accountable if they are not in compliance.”

The city council discussed extended-hour alcohol permits citywide for restaurants and bars after 11 p.m., with special conditions for restaurants outside of the downtown area.

The city of Winter Garden currently has a temporary moratorium on any new establishments serving alcohol, spokesperson Jayne Behrle said in an email. Winter Garden will be bringing forward some changes to the code on serving alcohol, Behrle said.

Espinosa said she likes Orlando’s decision and wants to “piggyback” on it and have something similar in downtown Kissimmee. She is disappointed that many restaurants are not on her side and are putting profits over the safety of the community, she said.

Eying Orlando

Holland said downtown Orlando’s new rules are “interesting.”

Ortiz said downtown Orlando and downtown Kissimmee are very different. He said Orlando is much bigger and more dangerous than Kissimmee.

“I’ve been here for 10 years, and 10 years thank God I have not seen nothing crazy or getting out of hand so there’s no need for us to spend more money whether that’s for a permit of for more security,” Ortiz said.

On a Thursday afternoon in March, there was a drive-by-shooting in downtown Kissimmee that left one dead and two injured, a rare event, former Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O’Dell said at the town hall.

“We got to be careful that perception is not always reality,” O’Dell said, about crime in Kissimmee. “Our crime has gone down. Now certainly that doesn’t mean we ignore it. … There’s nothing for us to attack. It’s not happening in a specific location or by a specific group of people.”

In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that allows citizens to carry concealed weapons without a government-issued permit. The permitless carry goes into effect in July.

The new law has many restaurant owners in downtown Kissimmee worried it could increase crime.

At the Kissimmee Town Hall, O’Dell said, while he doesn’t like the law, KPD is in the process of coming up with a plan to keep people safe after this law goes into effect. O’Dell said KPD has a specific squad that only patrols the downtown area.

“We are designing our training now, and we are talking about it at the squad level, but we don’t have our finalized plan yet,” O’Dell said. “It is certainly going to cause some change in how we approach people.”

Espinosa said it’s only a matter of time before something tragic happens in downtown Kissimmee if the city doesn’t do anything to stop it.

“Drugs, drinking and a gun without a permit … when you put them all together it’s a recipe for disaster if we’re not careful,” Espinosa said. “I’m trying to foresee or prevent what could be a potential situation but you know I guess people just don’t think about that.”