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Seminole bars can still take in patrons under 21 in

It's business as usual for Boomerz and Page II, for now.

By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published October 14, 2007

SEMINOLE - Page II and Boomerz won a reprieve when a 4-3 council vote shot down a proposal to ban underage patrons from entering certain bars.

City Council members want to discuss the issue again, but until an ordinance is passed, it's business as usual for Boomerz and Page II, the only two existing bars that would have been affected by the ban on anyone younger than 21 inside a freestanding bar with a capacity of 100 or more. Exceptions were made for soldiers, employees, paramedics, firefighters and some others.

The dispute among council members centered on a grandfather clause that would have allowed Boomerz and Page II to continue operations as usual unless there was a violation. At that point, a special master could have decided to force the offending bar to comply with the ban.

Supporters of the clause, including council member Dan Hester, said they thought it was unfair to target two existing businesses and change things without giving those bars a chance to "play by the rules." Eliminating the grandfather clause, Hester argued, would "put them out of business before they step on the banana peel."

"This is a very fair ordinance," Hester said. "It's unfair to take the business and pull the rug out from under it."

Bob Matthews, who had voted in favor of the ordinance at an earlier hearing, said he changed his mind after hearing reports that a 15-year-old had been served alcohol at Page II just the week before.

This happened, Matthews said, when the bar's owners knew the council was scrutinizing the situation. Even worse, he said, the owner had not shown up at Tuesday's hearing to explain the situation.

Council members were not the only ones split over the issue. So were area youths.

Jessica Rasdall, 20, is facing jail for a charge of DUI-manslaughter in a wreck that killed her best friend.

Rasdall, a student at the University of South Florida, and Laura Ann Gorman, a freshman at Eckerd College, had been drinking at Club Skye in Ybor City last year. Gorman, 18, died after the Honda Civic that Rasdall was driving veered off Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg, flipped and hit a tree.

"I will live with this guilt the rest of my life, and I don't want anyone else to," Rasdall said in supporting passage of the ordinance.

But seniors from Jody Zellner's American government class at Seminole High School disagreed. Several quoted the Constitution while opposing the rule's passage.

"It's exercising a double standard," Lauran Vicari said. "I don't think it's being constitutional."

Other students said the bars, especially Boomerz, are actually music venues.

"I think it's ridiculous. I should be able to go into a building," Ashley Braver said. "You guys should at least give us the chance not to drink."

[Last modified October 13, 2007, 20:31:13]