Everyone, and welcome to Committee on Ordnance.

I'm Chairman Pedro Espinal.

Thank you all for being here.

And today is November Third, and the time is six forty six.

Oh, we get the uh change the gotta change that.

All right, 546.

Thank you so much, uh Vice Chair.

Madam Clerk, please call the role.

Chairman Espinal.

Present.

Vice Chairwoman Peterson, present.

Councilwoman Harris present.

Councilman Vargas is absent.

Council Arroyas present.

You have four present and one absent.

You have a quorum.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Uh first item on the agenda, please.

Item number one is an ordinance and amendment of chapter 27 of the code of ordinances of the City of Providence entitled The City of Providence zoning ordinance approved November 24th, 2014, as amended to change articles two and twelve relating to entertainment.

Thank you.

So we had a public hearing on this item uh last week.

We had a large number of people that testify.

We take all uh testimonies into consideration.

Uh there is a small rewording or sentence uh that we need to do.

And for that we have me uh we invited Mr.

Bob Azar here to explain what that is.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, members of the committee.

Robert Azar, Deputy Director, Department of Planning and Development.

There's a uh there's a request by the administration that there be a small tweak to the language in the definition of incidental entertainment.

As you recall, we made an amendment um during the public hearing, and uh it was uh to speak to um if incidental entertainment being provide is being provided as live music performance and the times when it's supposed to cease.

Um I'm gonna read to you the way the sentence was um okay was uh changed in committee, and then I'm gonna read to you uh the way we suggest that the sentence be reworded, and this is to align with uh other city ordinances relating to uh licensing.

So um the way it was um amended in the hearing, it says if incidental entertainment is provided as a live music performance, it shall cease at 9 o'clock p.m.

Sunday through Thursday and 11 o'clock p.m.

Friday and Saturday, and the night before a city recognized holiday.

That's the that's the first phrase of that sentence.

Um so the proposal here is to make that a complete sentence, and then the the next phrase that says pre-recorded music may continue through closing time, that'll be a separate sentence.

Uh just a change in punctuation there.

But then there's a slight change in the wording that we are suggesting, so that it would read as follows.

If incidental entertainment is provided as a live music performance, it shall cease at 9 o'clock p.m.

Sunday through Thursday.

That's all the same.

And here's where it changes a little bit.

And 11 p.m.

on Friday and Saturday, as well as on the Sunday night preceding a city recognized holiday that falls on a Monday.

This change would actually narrow the uh the days at which there could be um uh music it as incidental entertainment going until 11 o'clock p.m.

It would only be allowed on the Sunday night preceding a city recognized holiday that falls on a Monday, as opposed to say uh uh uh Wednesday night before a Thursday holiday or a Thursday night before a Friday holiday.

So uh that's the extent of the suggested change.

Thank you, Mr.

Azer.

And uh and that was the intended purpose of the proposal amendment.

Yeah, in in retrospect, um reviewing the uh the record and recalling what councilman Vargas um was saying uh in that hearing.

I think um we didn't properly capture exactly uh what he was saying as we were doing this on the fly, but but uh it's my recollection that this fully captures what he was intending.

Understood.

Any question from our yes, Councillor Peterson?

Thank you.

Um Mr.

Hazar, thank you for the presentation on this.

I did see that we also made the change to include um trivia and karaoke, which was something that was brought forward by Ward 14 businesses, so I appreciate that.

Um but but the one question I actually do have is and forgive me if this was something that was presented prior to the meeting, the public hearing last week, it says in the very next sentence if a bar or restaurant and it's um crossed out and says facility includes incidental entertainment.