Bethel’s City Council has voted to curb the hours when people can drink or buy alcohol at local businesses.
In Bethel, the changes to the city’s alcohol code currently apply to just two restaurants licensed to sell beer and wine – UnCommon Pizza and Fili’s Pizza.
Now, both establishments will need to essentially be alcohol-free between the hours of 10 p.m. and 11 a.m., thanks to a unanimous vote by the council in its March 25 meeting.
The ordinance to amend the city’s alcohol code was introduced by Bethel Mayor Rose “Sugar” Henderson. She said that the move was based on concerns that Fili’s Pizza was flouting the rules with a series of parties the restaurant hosted beginning in February.
"I will say it's driven by the advertised parties that they were having or doing on Facebook. There was a lot of rumors on stuff that happened there, what time they actually finished," Henderson said.
The deejayed parties Henderson referred to were promoted on a local Facebook group in February as finishing at 2 a.m. This was legal under city code at the time. However, according to the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, live entertainment is prohibited past 11 p.m. at restaurants that serve alcohol without written permission from the state.
Earlier this month, Fili’s Pizza appeared to come into compliance with the live entertainment restriction, hosting multiple parties advertised as ending at 11 p.m. But as Bethel City Manager Lori Strickler explained in a prior council meeting, allowing restaurants to host late-night parties at all in Bethel could be a slippery slope.
"The voters voted to approve restaurant and eating place licenses with the understanding that that was to allow beer and wine sales with dinner and lunch, you know, with food," Strickler said. "And the further away the license holders get from that idea, I think the riskier this community becomes in voting against having a local option that allows beer and wine sales."
No one from Fili’s Pizza, UnCommon Pizza, or the community at large weighed in during a public hearing prior to the March 25 vote to change the city’s alcohol hours.
According to Bethel municipal code, the penalty for serving or consuming alcohol between the new restricted hours is a $300 fine. The City of Bethel can request a review at any time of any existing liquor licenses if they believe a violation has occurred.
Fili’s Pizza manager Daniel Allred said the restaurant has yet to determine whether it intends to host future parties in line with the new 10 p.m. cutoff.
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