Business owner concerned about ordinance limiting hours of operation, councilman responds

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Prevail Coffee has been selling cups of joe on Montgomery’s historic Dexter Avenue for close to a decade, and ever since, they’ve been opening at 7 a.m.

Now, an ordinance passed by the city council is putting that in jeopardy.

In addition to forcing businesses with on-premise alcohol licenses to close at 2 a.m. on weekends and 1 a.m. on weeknights, they would also have to remain closed until 9 a.m.

“People get kind of dangerous when they don’t have coffee at 7 a.m.,” Prevail co-owner Wade Preston said. “People might be dangerous when they’ve had a little too much to drink at 2 a.m. In my opinion they’re a little less dangerous, but still dangerous if they can’t have caffeine at 7.”

Preston believes if the ordinance is enacted, it would cause severe ramifications to his business, and it would disproportionately affect small businesses.

“I would guess top line revenue, it would cost us almost $100,000 a year, job loss, or at least some labor hours lost,” Preston predicts. “The only other place someone would go is Starbucks, so you’re literally taking money out of the hands of the community members and giving it to a large corporate entity.”

Councilman Oronde Mitchell, who sponsored the ordinance, says it’s about lives over profit.

“When people complain about gunfire, people complain about property crimes, so we are just making sure our officers are able to be where they need to be,” he said.

Mitchell is disheartened to see the backlash, because he says he got positive feedback from the community for months before it passed.

“They wanted it,” he explained. “They looked for something, because like I said, we are having so many issues with our small bars, lounges, clubs, and our event centers.”

The ordinance still needs to be signed by Mayor Steven Reed to be enforced. Mitchell says he does not know if he will sign it.

The ordinance passed the council on Dec. 3 by a 7-1 vote. Councilman Andrew Szymanski, who owns Hilltop Public House and would be affected by the ordinance, was the only no-vote. Councilwoman Marche Johnson was not present for the vote.

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