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Letter to the editor

Proposed under-21 ordinance affects two bars

If it passes, it would ban underage patrons.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published July 17, 2007

SEMINOLE - An ordinance that would banish underage patrons from certain Seminole bars has gained tentative approval from the City Council.

The ordinance would ban anyone younger than 21 from freestanding bars that have a capacity of more than 100 people. The only two existing businesses that currently would be affected are Boomerz on Seminole Boulevard and Page II on Park Boulevard.

The ordinance is scheduled to come before the council for a public hearing and final vote at 7 p.m. Aug. 14. The hearing will be in the council chambers at City Hall, 9199 113th St. N.

Wanda Stuart, program director of LiveFree!, was the lone speaker. LiveFree! is a substance abuse prevention program administered by Operation PAR. The group also receives funding from other agencies such as the Juvenile Welfare Board.

Stuart urged the council to adopt the ordinance, which would serve, she said, to help protect young people by keeping them out of an undesirable atmosphere.

She handed out Pinellas County statistics from the 2006 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey that indicated that, on average, kids take their first drink of alcohol when they are 12.6 years old.

The survey also said that 6.8 percent of middle school pupils and 21.1 percent of high school students who answered the survey said they had been drunk or high at school.

Also, 46.2 percent of the high school students and 20.7 of middle school pupils said they had used alcohol in the preceding 30 days.

In the audience were several youths who said after the vote that they did not realize they were allowed to speak at Tuesday's meeting. They opposed the proposal, because it would affect not only patrons but entertainers, such as singers and band members who are younger than 21.

Council members said nothing before the vote, but Boomerz and Page II have gotten some attention in recent years.

In June 2005, gunfire broke out at Boomerz, 6990 Seminole Blvd., after teen hip-hop night, causing customers at the all-night restaurant across the street to dive for cover. But the gunshots were only one of many incidents that caused Pinellas County sheriff's deputies to visit.

Although hip-hop night was ended, the city kept Boomerz in its sights. Earlier this year the bar went into bankruptcy, at least in part due to mounting fines from code violations, unpaid taxes and threatened foreclosures.

Page II Sports Bar and Night Club, at 8680 Park Blvd., also received attention from the sheriff for the actions of patrons after leaving the bar.

Just before New Year's Eve, the bar hung a sign that was one letter of the alphabet short of being obscene.

When city officials went out to ask that the sign be removed because of complaints, they noticed code violations.

Those have since been fixed, but in late June, the owner called deputies to report shots had been fired in his parking lot. While deputies were investigating, the owner allegedly almost drove over a deputy.

The owner, Randolph Wilson Russell, was charged with reckless driving, and a 23-year-old man, Tondrid M. McCluster, was charged with felonious possession of a firearm and disorderly conduct.

TREASURE ISLAND

Causeway bridge will close for four days

The Treasure Island Causeway Bridge will close for four days beginning at 9 a.m. July 23, as bridge construction continues. The bridge will reopen to traffic at 6 a.m. July 27.

Additional closure times may be necessary during the week of July 30.

Construction work at the Treasure Island Causeway Bridge will affect boater access to the channel. The channel is currently open at half-width.

Westbound traffic on the causeway will be turned back at 79th Street to Causeway Boulevard N or S. Eastbound traffic will detour at 104th Avenue, except for local traffic to the Treasure Island Yacht Club and Paradise Boulevard.

Detour routes to and from Treasure Island during the bridge closure are the Madeira Beach Causeway to the north and the Corey Causeway in St. Pete Beach to the south.

[Last modified July 16, 2007, 22:46:09]