Reggie Gaffney thinks the bill will be a way to help revitalize Main Street.
Jim Love thinks it will be a way to continue momentum for Murray Hill’s comeback.
The two City Council members are partnering on a local bill that mirrors one the Florida Legislature passed last year that was seen as a way to improve business in the Riverside and Avondale areas.
That bill, also sponsored locally by Love, relaxed the size and seating requirements of establishments that wanted to sell liquor.
“Smaller restaurants aren’t the same,” said Love. “They don’t have the same footprint and I want to give them the same opportunities as the big guys.”
Love said the footprint applies to square footage, space for seating and even parking. Often in the more historical commercial corridors, space is more limited.
The local bill being pursued this year would allow stretches of Springfield and Murray Hill to apply for liquor licenses if the businesses are at least 1,800 square feet and can seat 100 people. That’s down from the standard 2,500 square feet and 150 seats.
Under the special restaurant licenses, 51 percent of revenue has to come from food sales.
The bill adds 96 parcels in the Murray Hill commercial area, lining both sides of Edgewood and Owen avenues along with a stretch along Interstate 10 and Lenox and Woodruff avenues.
In Springfield, the relaxed requirements would go into effect for 234 parcels on both sides of Main Street from First Street to 20th Street and on both sides of Eighth Street from Pearl Street on the west to Walnut Street on the east.
Gaffney said a couple of restaurants have approached him about coming to the area, but wanted the ability to sell liquor.
He said the flexibility the bill offers would help that revitalization effort — his main concern, even above alcohol sales.
“I constantly get calls about Main Street and economic development,” said Gaffney, “and a bill like this will help that out.”
Love said one Avondale restaurant, Biscottis, applied for the license after last year’s bill passed. The request is pending.
The liquor bill isn’t the only local bill that council and the Duval Legislative Delegation could weigh in on.
At the request of the Duval County School Board, council member Aaron Bowman has sponsored a local bill that would tweak state law when it comes to how the school board handles voting ties.
Currently, a tie vote would actually be approval for the side on which the school board chair voted. That was adopted in 2006 for charter counties that have between 800,000 and 900,000 people.
However, Bowman said the board operates under Robert’s Rules of Order like the council does. Under that guide, tie votes don’t indicate approval.
The change would make Duval County an exception.
While the legislative delegation meets at 1 p.m. Wednesday for an organizational meeting, it likely won’t take up the bills until late January or early February.
Typically, the delegation waits until council has weighed in on such bills, which it will do in the next several weeks.
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