Liquor board refuses longer hours for booze sales
(CNS): Applications from local nightclubs to have their licenses extended to allow them to serve alcohol until 3am and a number of requests from bars and restaurant to extend booze sales on their licenses have all been denied. During the quarterly meeting of the Liquor Licensing Board last Thursday members heard a number of applications from various license holders to extend the hours when they can serve alcohol at weekends but all of the extension applications were refused. With a number of bars receiving extensions in recent times from 1am to 2am, nightclub owners claim that they are losing out on business as there is no longer an incentive for people to visit clubs when they can’t serve alcohol after 2am.
As a result four late night clubs made a pitch to push back their liquor sales times. Jet Nightclub, O Bar, LI Lounge and Elements Nightclub all requested permission to sell alcohol until three in the morning, extend their music playing time until 3:30 on Friday nights/ Saturday mornings, ultimately closing the clubs at 4am to return the economic advantage of being late night spots. However, all of the applications were refused as according to the law the board cannot make decisions about any liquor licenses based purely on economic consequences.
The nightclubs were not the only license premises that were disappointed in their applications to serve liquor for longer. A number of request by the holders of licenses at restaurants and bars to extend their booze serving time were also refused.
Ultra Lounge & Grill/Tropical Diner didn’t get permission to operate on Fridays until 2:00 am Saturday mornings, nor did the Corner Pocket Lounge & Billiards get the go ahead to operate on weekdays until 2:00 am the following morning. The Roof Top Lounge on Mary Street was also refused permission to operate on Fridays until 2:00 am Saturday mornings and Paradise Restaurant on the waterfront in downtown George Town was also refused a variation to allow it to operate on Thursdays and Fridays until 2:00am the following mornings. Welly’s Cool Spot and the Blue Marlin Bar also failed in their bids to be granted permission to operate on Fridays until 2:00 on Saturday mornings.
Although the license holder at Temperature Lounge & Restaurant on Shedden Road was granted Permission to operate on Thursdays until 2:00am Friday mornings, the closing time on Friday night Saturday morning was reverted to 1:00am. The licensee was also refused an application to change the license from restaurant to package.
Meanwhile, one new license was granted by the board to Luis Forbes for a Hotel Liquor License and a Music and Dancing License at the Bodden Town Beach Club, Bodden Town, Block 44B, parcels 296 and 297.
See liquor licensing minutes and board decisions below.
Category: Business
you konw i dnot see the big dael wehn it cmoes to dinkrnig, im at wrok rghit now and hvaing a gslas of aplpeotn and im prefcetly fnie!
I think it’s a really really good idea to allow people to go out and drink until 3 a.m. then stagger out to their souped up Japanese wannabe race cars with the gigantic tailpipes put on some really loud rap tunes and drive home carefully.
Notice I said carefully.
Here’s a better idea. If they want to stay open til 3 let’s be real it isn’t to provide a public service to underprivileged youth or anyone else it’s to make more money. And they make more money from selling liquor for longer. Fine. Nothing wrong with making more money. But they should at least take some of that extra cash and provide free or subsidized taxi rides. Or provide their own buses. That would be a responsible attitude towards selling copious amounts of alcohol.
Unless they want to help unwrap the kids from around trees at 4 a.m. And call their parents with the bad news. I’ll bet none of these bar owners have ever done that. No. They’re back at the bar counting the receipts.
Work in a hospital in emergency and find out.
Cayman is a Christian country and these nightclubs need to be closed down or banned from selling liquor altogether. This is just another evil brought to our fair nation by foreigners and their un-Godly drinking culture.
just to add another perspective, drowsy driving is just as bad as buzzed or drunk driving. It would be nice to be able to come home from work, take a nap, then get up and have enough time to have a social evening out during the weekend.
Not sure what the board is trying to accomplish by restricting the hours to 3am. Many years ago, 12 midnight was the golden cow that could not be touched, we’ve now extended that to 3am and the world hasn’t ended.
I don’t see any good reason why businesses that operate to a high standard (adhere to labour/ immigration regulations, maintain high levels of safety and security, ensures the availability of transport and food for patrons, and so on) shouldn’t benefit from some graduated system of late night exemptions. Isn’t it better to give people to opportunity to have a night out in a safe and secure environment than encourage them to go drinking on the beach at 2am? Caymanians party until dawn anyway, the status quo just forces the partying to occur in a less structured environment.
O… and the lack of economic considerations is a major gap in the structure of the Liquor Licensing Board. Why is it that so many public bodies in Cayman operate so arbitrarily?
How does getting wasted improve our island and be classified as “an opportunity to take a tiny step forward”?
Rubbish.
We are not New York City, we are a tiny island with enough accidents and crime as it is. Good for the Board, a few of us think they did the right thing!
🙂
who said anything about getting wasted?
Look at the amount of death since the clubs open till 3pm.We will never be able to please everyone.When people get drunk they act stupid.
here’s the thing. You are right, no one said anything about getting wasted.
But take a look at your ‘last callers’ and you be the judge.
cayman again misses an opportunity to take a tiny step forward……zzzzzzz…..can the last one to leave remember to turn off the lights….zzzzzzzz
on the contrary, I think they did the right thing. If you can’t get enough booze in you to make your life worthwhile, in the current alotted time, maybe you just aren’t trying hard enough.
nah…maybe i just work late on a friday/saturday and want to go out and have a good time like the rest of the civilised world…..
getting drunk is civilised
who’s talking about getting drunk?
oops sorry, I meant ‘having a good time’ wink,wink
You may be the exception but unfortunately most people DO get drunk – way too drunk! Longer hours just make them even drunker and dangerous cause they drive home that way.
Just get so drunk you forget where you parked the car.
Drink a lot of vodka before you go out. It is cheaper and reduces the early closing problem. I usually start my weekend on a Friday at around 3pm with a cheeky few shots at my desk.
14:25!…… u r ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ already u dont need any more liquor n u, u jus need 2 leave that time limit that is n place n place & stay off the sauce…… go fish’n!… go div’n!…go get some island cooked food to eat……..