UI The Daily Iowan, IA
10-22-07
Iowa City out of step on 21-only
Ben Travers - The Daily Iowan
If Iowa City voters pass the pending 21-ordinance Nov. 6, it would unite the UI
with the majority of Big Ten cities who already enforce similar laws, and it would
become the second town with a state Board of Regents school to adopt the
policy.
Of the three regent-university cities, only Ames (Iowa State University) has
implemented at 21-ordinance. Cedar Falls (the University of Northern Iowa) has
no citywide age restriction for entering a bar, said Gary Hesse, the Cedar Falls
city clerk.
Eight of the 11 cities with Big Ten universities enforce a 21-only policy - only
Iowa City, Champaign-Urbana (the University of Illinois), and Ann Arbor (the
University of Michigan) do not have such ordinances.
Ames allowed 19- and 20-year-olds in the bars for a trial period between 1989
and 1990, said Ames Mayor Ann Campbell.
The student government at the time conducted a survey of underage students at
ISU to determine whether they would consume alcohol if they were allowed in the
bars. The survey results indicated that underage students would not drink
illegally, and the Ames City Council enacted the trial based on the student
government's recommendation.
When the year was up, the student government conducted another survey and
discovered that underage bar patrons were consuming alcohol, resulting in their
expulsion from the bars. That was the first and last significant call for a change in
the city's policy, Campbell said.
Hesse said Cedar Falls has had its own problems with the issue in the past.
He said the city used to have a requirement before the mid-1990s that if an
establishment with a liquor license allowed underage customers inside, it must
meet the city's definition of a restaurant. At that time, Cedar Falls required a
restaurant to earn at least 60 percent of its business from sales other than liquor.
But owners found ways around this mandate, Hesse added.
"Cover charges counted as the 60 percent," Hesse said.
Furthermore, many members of the city staff questioned the accuracy of the
figures produced by certain restaurants, he said.
In 1998, the Cedar Falls City Council decided to do away with the "60/40" rule
and abide by state law, which does not prohibit any age group from entering a
bar.
"This was not the desire of the staff," Hesse said. "But the councilors did not just
throw up their hands. We may have loosened up on the 21 requirement, but we
are enforcing to a much greater degree."
Hesse said there has been no effort to enforce a more restrictive policy by the
city staff, officials, or public since 1998.
Numerous Big Ten universities' representatives do not see age-restriction at bars
as a pressing issue right now.
Bill Moerschbacher of the Penn State University police said he does not think
changing the current Pennsylvania "21-only" law would have much of an effect.
"I'm sure students don't like it, but that aspect isn't challenged," he said. "It's not
an issue here."
The University of Illinois is one of the few Big Ten schools without the 21ordinance.
"No one has ever proposed that we only let 21 and over into bars," said Laura
Hall, the assistant city attorney of Champaign. "All [drinking-related] concerns are
a standard discussion, though."
Bars located in Minneapolis occasionally hold "18 and up nights," said Nnamdi
Okoronkwo, an assistant city attorney. Participating bars allow individuals 18 and
older inside but keep them segregated from those people old enough to drink,
Okoronkwo said.
The city of East Lansing, Mich., home of Michigan State University, has bars for
almost every age. The city requires new establishments with bars to have a
special permit requiring individuals under 21 to be accompanied by a parent after
11 p.m. if they wish to enter the bar area, said Tim Schmitt, a community
development analyst for East Lansing.
Columbus, Ohio, and Evanston, Ill., the home of Ohio State University and
Northwestern University, use similar policies and do not allow underage patrons
after a set time.
Officials at all three universities said there have been no complaints or
challenges to the time constraints.
E-mail DI reporter Ben Travers at:
benjamin-travers@uiowa.edu