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JANET ZINKThe law would require youths to have an adult chaperone, but does give some leeway. Some believe it may be racially motivated.
TAMPA - Ybor City has long been known as a nightclub mecca for people around the Tampa Bay area.
It also has the city's highest crime rate during overnight hours, particularly among young people.
That's why the Tampa City Council is considering a curfew that would ban anyone under 18 from Ybor City between the hours of 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., Thursday through Saturday.
Violators would get a trespass warning banishing them for six months from an area bounded by Palm Avenue, Nuccio Parkway, Fifth Avenue and 22nd Street.
Anyone who violates the warning could be arrested.
"The goal is not to arrest young people and create criminal records," said city attorney David Smith. "It's to control the problem."
Business owners who violate the rule and parents who interfere with its enforcement could face fines of up to $500, 60 days in jail or six months of probation.
Most of the council members expressed support for the ordinance, but City Council member John Dingfelder said the proposal may infringe on civil liberties and be racially motivated. He said he needs more convincing.
Smith offered Tampa police statistics that show Ybor City's high crime rate during overnight hours.
"This is a unique area," Smith said. "It is an area that has the highest concentration of wet zoning, and consumption of alcohol is a contributing factor in criminal activity."
That activity often involves young people, he said.
Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. from June 2003 to July 2004, juveniles were crime victims or broke the law more often in Ybor than any other part of the city, Smith said.
Tampa had a youth curfew in the late 1990s, but a state appeals court ruled it unconstitutional in 2002 because it was too broad.
"We've solved that problem by limiting the area to which it applies, limiting the hours to which it applies and providing exemptions for reasonable activities," Smith said.
The ordinance would not apply to children accompanied by parents, or those who are working or have another good reason to be in the curfew zone.
City officials modeled the Ybor ordinance after similar laws in Orlando and Jacksonville that have survived legal challenges, Smith said.
In Pinellas County, at least two locations have curfews.
At the BayWalk entertainment complex in St. Petersburg, youths under 18 must be with a guardian who is at least 21 years old after 11 p.m. On the second floor, where the bars are located, youths under 18 must be with a parent or guardian after 9 p.m.
The city of Pinellas Park technically still has a juvenile curfew, but officials have decided not to enforce it until all court challenges are complete.
Dingfelder, however, said curfews should only be used as a last resort to control crime. He said the issue of juveniles in Ybor came up in the summer when children were spending evenings at the youth-oriented Club Bling. He wondered if the problem had lessened now that school was back in session.
Concerns over Club Bling have subsided, in part because of increased police presence and a team of city employees and community members who encourage children to go home when the club closes, Smith said.
But according to police, Smith said, the problem of young people in Ybor is an ongoing issue not sorelated to Club Bling.
Some community members at Tuesday's meeting were skeptical.
"Why did this all of a sudden come up after Club Bling opened its doors? This has been a problem in Ybor City for years," said Angela Judge, a member of the Council on Black Issues and one of the people who shoos children home from the teen club on weekend nights. "It all of a sudden became a pressing issue when there's an influx of African-Americans. It looks suspect."
In a heated exchange with City Council member Kevin White, Alene Atkinson said instead of a curfew, the city should create more programs for young people.
"I don't think the answer is more restriction and more criminalization," she said.
White responded that there's no reason for 12- to 15-year-olds to be out of their homes between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.
Nonetheless, Atkinson shot back, "The kids are out." They need something constructive to do, she said.
Club Bling was supposed to be that, White said. But because it's surrounded by bars, the children are tempted to participate in the "carnival, party-type atmosphere" when they leave the club.
"The kids should be home in bed," he said.
Times staff writers Anne Lindberg and Leanora Minai contributed to this report.