Legislators green-light late night drinking law

California lawmakers passed Sen. Scott Weiner’s, D-San Francisco, bill to allow cities to extend the sale of alcohol at bars, nightclubs, and restaurants to as late as 4 a.m.

Senate Bill 905 passed the Senate Thursday with 28 votes and will now go to the governor’s desk where he will have until September 30 to sign it into law.

The bill creates a 5-year pilot program version of the Let Our Communities Adjust Late-Night or LOCAL Act that will allow, but not require, cities to decide whether or not to enact later hours.

The program will only apply to nine cities that have expressed interest in extending their nightlife hours. These cities include San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City, and Palm Springs.

SB 905 will create the option for those cities to extend hours providing them with significant flexibility in how they enact the bill. Cities will get to individually decide whether to limit extended hours to certain neighborhoods, nights of the week, or even certain times throughout the year.

Mayor London Breed said in a statement:

“SB 905 provides us with the flexibility to determine how best to implement the bill here in San Francisco, and I look forward to beginning that process.”

The bill would go into effect in January 2021 with a five-year limit that will allow officials to evaluate the effects of longer service hours and decide whether to renew or discontinue the legislation.

Bay City News

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