The City of New Haven wants to enforce new restrictions on establishments that serve alcohol to minors.
Mayor Justin Elicker announced plans to implement tighter restrictions on under-aged “Juice Bars” that operate alongside bars and nightclubs.These are establishments that legally serve nonalcoholic beverages to minors, but often operate near 21 plus or “all age” events where alcoholic beverages are served.
“This can be a recipe for disaster if it's not managed well and if it's not thoughtfully done and there isn't the intention by the establishments to truly follow the law,” Elicker said.
Previous incidents have brought up public safety concerns. In some cases, alcohol was served to minors. He said in the past year, the city has seen an increase in disorderly conduct, fights, shootings, and other crimes. In an incident that occurred last Halloween, Elicker said multiple juice bar events led to violence in which four people were shot and an eighteen year old died.
“Too often these events aren't properly managed. They're not properly planned or organized. With thousands of people waiting in lines, spilling out into the street. They’ve contributed to significant public safety issues,” Elicker said.
New Haven Police Chief Chief David Zannelli said the past two years the department has responded to 52 reports of fights in the area of juice bars, 11 reports of people shot, three reports of gunfire and two homicides. Zannelli said the department wants to restrict hours of operation for existing juice bars and require business to contact the department ahead of juice bar events.
“These will all be incredibly helpful in our efforts to reduce unruly behavior, gun violence and underaged drinking in our city,” Zannelli said.
Elicker said he will work with city leadership to implement a new local zoning proposal that would prohibit new juice bars from opening. A new legislative proposal would seek to make existing juice bars safer and hold repeat violators accountable. The city will hold public hearings after residents submitted remonstrance petitions objecting to the renewal of liquor permits at three local businesses.
“People from the surrounding area come to enjoy themselves safely, to have a great time, to help support a lot of our local businesses but we want to do that safely and responsibly,” Elicker said. “Frankly, there's a handful of establishments that have these juice bars that are not doing that.”
