The last attempt was to limit the number of bars and it failed. There were others on city council who supported it too. And, the mayor even signed the bill. But the courts won. Freedom won. Kraus lost.
So, the next round is even worse. He lost the last battle with a stick -- so now he picks up a bigger stick. He wants to double down or something.
Pittsburgh council gets new approach to Carson Street bars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'I don't believe this ordinance is the be-all and end-all to solve the unruliness of the Carson Street corridor,' said Kraus, who hears complaints from residents about public drunkenness and vandalism. 'It puts a stop for now, until we can catch our breath and decide where we're going from here.'The end all and be all to the problem is the marketplace.
Max and Erma's in Shadyside is closed. So what! Let it be. The corporation had problems. The economy took a dip. Nationwide, they couldn't stay in buesiness. Places open, and places close. There is good and bad. Time marches to a new day. That's how it should be without the city putting up red tape and hurdles to marketplace entry.
Kraus wants to see a balance. Of course he does, but it is his balance. He wants to rule the day, the streets and the lives of others. What Bruce wants is not what Bruce should legislate just because he won an election. Bruce can't legislate balance. Others are smart enough to realize their roles.
Frankly, I want to see freedom and liberties so that others who have a good idea can come here and set up shop as they wish. And, I want to have the people decide if they should support that business or not. And, decisions of employment are to be with the workers. Should they take jobs in that business or not is up to them. And, the banks get to decide if the owners should get capital to invest in that business or not. Thousands of decisions have to occur. Few or none of those decisions should be at the will of Bruce Kraus and others in City Hall.
What isn't serving the business district well is government intervention. "I don't care if it was drugstores that were opening. ... It's not serving the business district well to have almost a monopoly of one certain type of business," he said. Hey, the worst kind of monopoly is a state controlled monopoly. Furthermore, to curb the bars, he needs to curb the eating establishements. That is NOT the monopoly he wants to attack.
Nancy Eshelman, president of South Side Chamber of Commerce, opposes Kraus' ordinance.
"How dare he," Eshelman said. "What happened to free enterprise in this country? What's next? Is he going to decide how many tattoo parlors there are?"
There's no reason the city should restrict any small businesses from opening, said Eshelman, co-owner of Morning Glory Inn, a bed-and-breakfast on Sarah Street. "It's very hard to open a business, and if someone is willing to go through the effort, invest the capital, go through the process -- which is grueling -- he should not be able to say there are too many of them here. It's rather devious."
Kraus said his bill would attempt to prevent late-night drinkers from causing property damage or contributing to crime. "This is not about punishing anyone or going after businesses with alcohol licenses," he said. "This is about keeping people safe."
Again, he is miss directed, fully. No bar nor eating establishment ever wandered the neighborhood and caused property damage. People do that. Places don't. People from those places, perhaps, should be held accountable.
"We just have to begin enforcing the laws we already have instead of having new laws," she said. "I don't think controlling the number of restaurants and bars is going to change behavior."
More:
Bits of this & that ... - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus, stymied in his efforts to supersede state law in determining the number and proximity of bars on the city's South Side, now wants to limit the number of restaurants there.
'I don't care if it was drugstores that were opening,' he said. 'It's not serving the business district well to have almost a monopoly of one certain type of business.'
Such arrogance cannot hide Mr. Kraus' ignorance. The South Side (excluding the SouthSide Works) long has been a wonderful, living, breathing laboratory for the free marketplace. Indeed, the success of such a funky and eclectic district has bred some problems, such as open drunkenness and public urination.
But not only are the South Side's problems tailor-made for beefed-up enforcement of existing laws by the local gendarmes, the Kraus proposal would be a slippery slope toward all manner of even more onerous government diktats that very well could kill the geese that lay so many golden eggs for Pittsburgh's tax coffers."
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An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge says City Council can't limit the number of businesses with liquor licenses along East Carson Street in the South Side, so Councilman Bruce Kraus is trying to do what he believes is the next best thing: limit the number of restaurants altogether.
Kraus on Tuesday introduced a measure that would limit the number of restaurants, not including fast-food establishments, to one per every 50,000 square feet along East Carson, the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, between 10th and 27th streets.
"I don't believe this ordinance is the be-all and end-all to solve the unruliness of the Carson Street corridor," said Kraus, who hears complaints from residents about public drunkenness and vandalism. "It puts a stop for now, until we can catch our breath and decide where we're going from here."
The ordinance is based on the city's 2007 measure to stop bars from opening once a neighborhood reached a "saturation point." Judge Joseph M. James struck down the ordinance last month, saying it infringed on the power of the state Liquor Control Board. Since then, four East Carson Street restaurants applied for liquor licenses, including two businesses that sued -- Baba D's and S Bar -- and the popular Beehive coffeeshop.
Kraus said he wants to see a balance in the type of businesses. "I don't care if it was drugstores that were opening. ... It's not serving the business district well to have almost a monopoly of one certain type of business," he said.
Nancy Eshelman, president of South Side Chamber of Commerce, opposes Kraus' ordinance.
"How dare he," Eshelman said. "What happened to free enterprise in this country? What's next? Is he going to decide how many tattoo parlors there are?"
There's no reason the city should restrict any small businesses from opening, said Eshelman, co-owner of Morning Glory Inn, a bed-and-breakfast on Sarah Street. "It's very hard to open a business, and if someone is willing to go through the effort, invest the capital, go through the process -- which is grueling -- he should not be able to say there are too many of them here. It's rather devious."
Kraus said his bill would attempt to prevent late-night drinkers from causing property damage or contributing to crime. "This is not about punishing anyone or going after businesses with alcohol licenses," he said. "This is about keeping people safe."
A 2009 study by Kraus' office said 48 percent of arrests in the South Side between July 2007 and April 2009 occurred between 1 and 3 a.m., and nearly half of all arrests were alcohol-related. Kraus noted that drinking was a factor in this past weekend's arrest of city firefighter Timothy Coyne for a home invasion and assault in the South Side. Coyne is suspended without pay for 30 days, pending a trial board hearing.
"I'd rather not comment," Coyne said Tuesday, when asked about his arrest and the proposed ordinance. "I've got my attorney and we're gonna go from there."
Eshelman said problems related to alcohol shouldn't affect business owners who want to move to the neighborhood.
"We just have to begin enforcing the laws we already have instead of having new laws," she said. "I don't think controlling the number of restaurants and bars is going to change behavior."
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