Published: June 05, 2009 12:56 am      

Burnside seeking tighter regulation over entertainment venues

Finally, a new entertainment ordinance is in hand — one that seeks to clear up exactly what constitutes entertainment in the City of Burnside.

The council has discussed the issue of live entertainment for months, a quandary that sprung up as a result of the 2004 restaurant referendum allowing the sale of alcohol in restaurants. Since that time, numerous establishments have come into town or have expanded — and along with them, the capacity to sit out with a drink and listen to a live act perform.

But where does one draw the line? Should a restaurant allowing a violin player to tickle the strings for tips be required to acquire an entertainment license? If not, how does that differ from a rock band playing for a crowd specifically gathered to hear them, and why? Those are the devil-in-the-details dilemmas that Burnside officials have grappled with for some time now.

Earlier this year, a request was sent out to other towns for their own entertainment ordinances as a source of comparison, but only Somerset returned one to Burnside. This wasn’t ideal, since Burnside’s councilors figured it might be wiser to seek the expertise of a town that allows the sale of alcohol, unlike Pulaski County’s seat.

As councilors collected ideas and brought input to City Attorney Dan Thompson, an ordinance slowly began to fall into place — one that was introduced for a first reading at Monday’s June meeting of the Burnside City Council.

Key points in the ordinance include:

• The definition of “a place of entertainment” to mean that the establishment collects some form of revenue — cover charge, tickets or general sales — as a result of people assembling in public to be entertained. This would include bingo parlors, pool and dance halls, game centers, bowling alleys, recreational centers, and miniature golf.

What the definition excludes are private homes, temporary venues such as circuses and county fairs, live entertainment sponsored by religious organizations, and restaurants that provide entertainment for their customers’ dining pleasure. The only exception is if the restaurant asks for a cover charge in addition to a dining bill — then an entertainment license would be required.

• The dollar amount to go along with an application for an entertainment permit is $25. An investigation of the application’s “business reputation and moral character” will be conducted, and cause for dismissal of the application could include the business posing some form of public threat to “health, safety morals or general welfare.”

• The City Council can fix “reasonable hours of operation” for places of entertainment throughout the city. No specific hours were mentioned in the ordinance.

• Rules for the appeal process for applications and any penalties sustained while operating an entertainment business.

No action was taken upon the first reading. The matter will be discussed and voted upon at the next Burnside City Council meeting.

Also put up for first reading were an ordinance adjusting the class title of various city employees and the 2009-2010 budget ordinance.

Burnside’s budget projects at $1,576,621.45, down a bit from the last fiscal year at over $1,644,000, the largest budget Burnside has ever had.

Mayor Chuck Fourman said the dip could probably be attributed to the down economy and hit to the revenue collected by restaurant and alcohol taxes. The Burnside Tourism Commission, directly funded by the food tax, for instance, has a budget of $165,000 in 2009-10 — over $20,000 less than in the current budget. The Burnside Police Department, funded by the alcohol tax, sits at $356,459 in the new budget, down almost $30,000.

Nevertheless, Burnside is still doing fine — and far better than in the past, notes Fourman, who said that the ability to maintain the financial flexibility needed for various city tasks that pop up is a big boon.

“The budget is looking a little better every year,” said Fourman. “We’re putting things in place, making cuts here and there in different departments to make the budget better.”

Again, no action was taken on these items since it was a first reading for each.

What was passed, however, was the second reading of a new ordinance adjusting water user service fees. Those using 5/8-inch and 3/4-inch lines now have a $50 tap-on fee, plus a $50 non-refundable water user service fee. Those using 1-inch lines have a $550 tap-on fee, plus a $75 non-refundable water user service fee. For 2-inch lines, it’s a $2,000 tap-on fee, plus $125 non-refundable water service fee.