A.G. Gancarski
The Senate has approved a House local bill (HB 4053) that will allow booze sales at a concert hall in Jacksonville’s Riverside area.
FIVE on Park Street, the replacement for the beloved Sun Ray Cinema, is hoping to help to revive the Five Points commercial strip that has been riddled by businesses leaving in recent years.
It aims to create a new special zone for event centers known as the “Urban Transition Area North of Park Street,” expanding alcohol service as long as more than half of income comes from sales of food and tickets.
The district will extend to Margaret Street. FIVE is the only event center in the space otherwise occupied by retail and restaurants.
Republican Rep. Wyman Duggan, the House sponsor, noted during a local hearing in Jacksonville before the Session that these special exception areas are created routinely for “greater opportunity for infill economic development” with this one focusing on Five Points.
Liquor can only constitute 49.9% of sales, with ticket sales, food and merchandise driving a simple majority of revenue. With some all-ages shows slated for FIVE, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Birdies, which is next door to the concert venue, already sells liquor on the strip.
This won’t be a “full liquor license” like Club 5 had when it occupied the space. Nor would it allow consumption of booze outside the venue.
