Cape Coral introduces extended bar hours ordinance

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CAPE CORAL, Fla.- City Council members are getting ready to introduce a new ordinance to extend bar hours.

Several bars in downtown Cape Coral are in support of the ordinance allowing them to stay open until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays if they apply and receive the extension permit.

Bar owners could be granted a one year permit to extend their business hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.

Business owners would also have to follow additional rules such as paying for an off-duty police officer, having surveillance cameras, and complying with Florida’s Responsible Vendor Act.

Not everyone is on board with the new ordinance, but those who are say everyone just needs to have an open mind.

“People have this negative view on what happens late at night but again, there’s a lot of good hard working people that get out of work late at night. The people that save your lives in the hospitals they’re sitting there, they get out at midnight, can’t they come out and have a drink?” said David Delli Paoli with the Back Streets Sports Bar.

Monday night is the introduction of the ordinance but the council is still expected to vote at a meeting on March 23. If it passes, the first night bars could stay open late would be Friday, April 3.

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