The South Tampa News & Tribune
Tampa City Council Puts Squeeze On The Lime's Request
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Published: June 26, 2008
TAMPA - The Tampa City Council today denied a request from the owners of The Lime restaurant to stay open later.
In a 6-1 vote, the council sided with neighbors who said extended hours would increase noise, parking problems and litter and encourage a late-night bar scene on South Howard Avenue.
The Lime's owners said many sports events don't end until after midnight and more people eat dinner later. Their request included staying open until 2 a.m. on some nights.
Councilman Joseph Caetano suggested a one-year conditional license with the restaurant, 915 S. Howard Ave., closing at 1:30 a.m.
But Councilman John Dingfelder said more than 30 e-mails against later hours were sent by residents, many living in nearby Parkland Estates. The restaurant seems to be thriving with the hours it has, he said.
Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( American1st ) on June 27, 2008 at 7:14 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
What kind of Democracy is this? 30 people can decide whether a business can make money or not? What about the 10,000 people that would attend the later hours of this restaurant? Do they have any say in this? Why don't they go ahead and approve the request and make it conditional based on the facts....not the assumption that things will get worse than they are? If complaints pile in, then retract the hours after all other measures to correct the problem are addressed. Come on people!
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Posted by ( RRTampa ) on June 27, 2008 at 12:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
American1st, you apparently do not know the story behind The Lime. The owners represented to ALL neighbors that they would be a "neighborhood sports bar" before they opened to gain approval. Immediately after opening they petitioned for later hours and their true intentions came out. They were granted their existing hours based on what they told neighbors and city council....now they are saying the economy is tough and they need extended hours...well, if you can't operate under the restrictions you knew about going in, you have a flawed plan and neighbors should not have to pay for your lack of foresight. Basically, they are deceptive and neighbors have rights too. There is no reason to open a late night bar in a neighborhood environment.
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Posted by ( American1st ) on June 27, 2008 at 6:16 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
RRTampa, you apparently are a neighbor! I understand that the restrictions were in place beforehand and agreed to by The Lime but I want to voice my opinion about the hours of operation regulation as a whole. I can see not wanting a mechanic shop or any other loud business to operate after hours due to the noise they might generate, UNLESS they worked in insulated buildings to reduce/eliminate the noise. Telling The Lime to do something about the potential complaints ahead of approval makes more sense to me. Tell them to bus their patrons in to reduce parking issues. Tell them to insulate the noise to the inside of the establishment and have them create a litter task force to clean up after they close. But to tell them “NO” is not the answer to the real problems. I can tell you that the bar pays taxes on all their revenues as well and the neighborhood does lose that extra revenue when they close for the night. What do you mean by "their true intentions"? That they want to actually MAKE money? That would, and is the "true intentions" of ALL businesses. The problem I have is with how freedom is being interpreted when it suits the few and disregards the many. People DO work until 11pm, or later and have to "rush" to drink after their shifts and then "rush" out when the establishment closes. What is the benefit of this I ask? Let's just push all the drunks out at once and somehow that reduces problems or even fatalities? Are people too stupid to purchase alcohol anyways and do what they want after the bars close? I think not. The punishment comes to the bar in the form of lost revenue and the patron does whatever he/she sees fit afterwards. Bars should be allowed to operate at all hours and in return given responsibility for ensuring that the privacy and peacefulness of the community is preserved. Why not let the drunks go home at rush hour the next day? Traffic itself will slow the drunks down to safe accident speeds therefore reducing fatalities! :)
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