Iowa City's 21-Only Ordinance May Be Challenged by Petition

The controversial 21-only ordinance battle could be back in the news again soon.

Lee Hermiston of the Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that Josh Ecreg, general manager of Martinis, and George Withoff, owner of the Union Bar, have expressed interest to City Clerk Mariann Karr that they would like to petition the city of Iowa City government to overturn the ordinance, on the books since 2010.

Iowa City's 21-only ordinance being challenged (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Karr said the petitioners will have to collect 2,500 signatures to put the issue before the city council, who would then vote on the matter or put it to the voters. Given the current makeup of the council – including Mayor Matt Hayek, who championed 21-only with UI vice president for student life Tom Rocklin – it’s unlikely the council would vote to overturn the measure.

Karr said the petitioners have expressed an interest in turning in their petition within the next month to allow for the possibility of a public vote in November.

Hermiston has a lot more detail on the history behind the 21-only ordinance struggle at the link.

The city council also counts Rick Dobyns as a member, who was a prominent proponent of the 21-ordinance when it was first introduced as a way to reduce youth drinking downtown.

Dobyns, however, was supportive of a recent modification to the ordinance removing midnight curfews from performance establishments that served alcohol for patrons between the ages of 19 and 21, or in other words, college students. He mentioned that the reason he was OK with the new exemption was that the 21-only ordinance had been largely working as intended.

Iowa City City Council eliminates midnight curfew for entertainment venues (Daily Iowan)

In approving the measure, councilors expressed their support for local venues and stressed that this measure didn’t mean the council wasn’t concerned about alcohol issues.

“A lot of members of the community are concerned and think we’re deconstructing the 21-ordinance,” Councilor Rick Dobyns said. “But providing nonalcoholic opportunities for students isn’t just rewarding the good guys, we’re still trying to punish the bad guys who don’t quite keep up with alcohol enforcement. Nobody likes police in their bars.”

Do you think the 21-only ordinance is still worth fighting over? Or should bar owners learn to adapt? Let us know in comments.