Hoping to increase business at Westminster restaurants and bars while keeping drinkers off the roads, the city's Common Council is drafting a letter proclaiming its support for a proposal to move last call in Carroll County from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Prompted by the city's initiative to invigorate the downtown business district, the council is asking the county's General Assembly delegation to support the measure. Supporters said they also are motivated by concerns for safety.
"Someone could leave to get that last beer, and that movement is not something we want to see," said council President Damian L. Halstad at a recent meeting.
Local establishments such as Maggie's have been pushing intermittently for years for the extra hour. Owner Jim Brewer, who also is president of the Carroll County Restaurant Association, said good reasons exist for lawmakers to support the later closing time.
He said that Carroll County is no longer a farming community in which life ends at sundown. People will travel to other counties to wind down later, he said.
"I see a mass exodus from my establishment right around 11:30, midnight," Brewer said. "It's an economics issue. People are leaving for [nearby] counties and not staying here."
He agrees with Halstad's assertion that this is also a safety issue: "The closer to home, the better off you are."
Brewer said his association plans to seek support from officials in other Carroll municipalities.
Other Maryland counties require that alcohol sales end at 2 a.m. As the largest municipality in the county, Westminster is considered key to persuading the legislative delegation to file and support a bill that would make the proposal a reality.
Despite the nod from Westminster, supporters of the change might find the going uphill.
Sen. Larry E. Haines, a Westminster Republican who heads the county delegation, said he won't support the measure, although he and his colleagues will hold a public hearing for this and other proposals Jan. 25.
"Here we are passing laws all the time increasing the penalties for drivers drinking, and if anyone is in a bar after midnight they're likely going to be in a car driving home," Haines said.