Cleanup, liquor crackdown in downtown Ellensburg

The hot topic in downtown Ellensburg for the past six months has been vomit, public urination, over service, DUIs, loud noise and sidewalks littered with food wrappers, bottles and cigarette butts.

In a nutshell - the overall perception of Ellensburg's downtown nightlife.

Back in April, the city council discussed the issue at length, including the possibilities of a downtown housekeeping program, regulation of temporary beer gardens, liquor license compliance programs and more.

Fast forward to today. What has been done?

Quite a bit, actually.

Since April, groups all around the city have been working to improve downtown's standards.

In July, the council approved a revised noise ordinance that not only tightened the language - including adding hooting and hollering to the list of no-nos - but also added graduated penalties for repeat offenders up to $1,000.

At the start of this month, the state Liquor Control Board declared Ellensburg's seven downtown bars - The Palace Cafe, The Tav, Frontier Tavern, The Starlight, Lilly's Cantina, the Oak Rail and the Horseshoe - as a "location of strategic interest" or LSI.

"What it means is we are going to be assisting with education and enforcement in those areas," said Matt Murphy, an officer with the Liquor Control Board.

That means an increase in enforcement, according to Liquor Control Board Communications Officer Brian Smith.

"If an area or a single bar is identified as an LSI by us, we may increase the amount of training we are doing - more premises checks where we are doing status checks, undercover operations...

"We do whatever we can to bring that location into compliance with state liquor laws."

LSIs are identified based on the number of calls for service to local police departments, referred DUIs, complaints and violations at a given location.

According to Ellensburg's LSI report, there were 201 calls for service in the downtown to the Ellensburg Police Department in the past year.

"That's a real strain on their agency as far as manpower - having to go to those calls," Murphy said. "We are trying to assist the bars and lower those rates."

For the past two quarters, Murphy said the LCB has spent its time focusing on three bars in Moses Lake and are hoping to get the same results in Ellensburg.

"What happened in Moses Lake was we were able to reduce DUIs in our locations and also reduce calls for service," Murphy said.

EPD is also implementing its own program - the Serving the Standard Program.

"Bottom line, the program is geared toward pulling bar owners, law enforcement, the fire department and code enforcement all together to help reduce crimes that are occurring in the bars," said EPD Capt. Dan Hansberry.

As far as the typical downtown Ellensburg crime goes - the most frequent issues are quality-of-life violations, over service and noise ordinance violations.

The Serving the Standard Program started two weeks before Labor Day's Rodeo weekend.

During that time, officers visited the 17 places around town during "non-peak hours" that the LCB identified as "bars" including private clubs like the Eagles and Moose Lodge and restaurants that serve alcohol, like Wing Central.

"It's not just what you normally think of when you think of a bar," Hansberry said.

Hansberry said everyone was "in very good compliance," by having the proper laws and rules posted.

During the visits bar owners and managers were educated on the program.

David Heartless, manager of Arnie's Horseshoe Sports Bar, said the compliance checks were helpful and will hopefully get everyone on the same page.

"It shows people who might not know what is going on downtown," Heartless said. "The new system will show if there is one place (out of compliance) and will show where it is and not pick on a handful of places."

EPD's ultimate goal is cooperation between the businesses and law enforcement.

"Our hope is the bar owner and management will work with us to resolve whatever that problem is and bring them into compliance," Hansberry said.

What EPD hasn't done yet is a bar sweep. If an establishment is out of compliance with the Serving Standard Program, there will be a multi-agency sweep compliance check during peak hours.

Agencies involved would be EPD, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue and the LCB.

"We'll see if there is any underaged people in the bar, make sure there are no code violations, make sure servers are properly licensed," Hansberry said. "It's going through and doing that compliance check."

The changes taking place in downtown Ellensburg aren't all law enforcement related it's also getting a facelift.

The Ellensburg Downtown Association recently signed a contract to have workers clean downtown streets three times a week.

The plan was proposed by City Manager Ted Barkley. But Barkley noted that last week's rains helped the appearance.

"The condition of downtown generally isn't as bad as it has been in some years as far as litter," Barkley said. "A lot of that frankly has to do with the weather."

With so many projects in place, the next thing to do is create a baseline to see if there is actually any improvement downtown - besides just personal perception.

That's where Lynne Harrison with the Central Washington University Campus Community Coalition steps in.

"There has been a lot of anecdotal discussion about some of the problems, but no real data," Harrison said. "We were charged with developing measurable outcomes."

The "we" is the Hospitality Resource Alliance, or HRA.

To start collecting data, Harrison said both campus and community volunteers are preparing to issue a series of surveys.

The first, scheduled to go out Tuesday, will go to the 18 businesses that serve alcohol within the confines of Third and Seventh avenues and Main and Pine streets.

The main question for them is whether or not they have a written business policy.

"If they do, we are going to ask them for a copy of it and look at the policy later," Harrison said. "A really good written business policy helps their employees know what liquor laws are and what kinds of things that employee needs to do."

The next survey is set to go out at toward the end of next week.

A total of 145 businesses will be greeted by surveyor teams of two within the same area as the first survey.

"We'll be asking them what their perception of the problems of noise, human waste and other litter on the side walks, and to comment on conduct issues," Harrison said. "It's the perception of the problem - when does it typically occur and how often."

A letter and survey is also being sent to the 50 or so addresses of downtown residents.

After all the data is collected, it will be presented to council.

"We will make the results publicly available, then follow up in six months after a lot of different activities, most of which have already started."

Heartless is a member of HRA and has attended a number of the city council meetings that discuss downtown.

"I think that people who are in the industry should have a say of what's going on," Heartless said. "I don't want someone to tell me how to do my business ... we're trying - it's just not good enough for some people."

Heartless said he has been continuing to do what he has done for years.

"I keep the bar safe, people going into my bar safe, follow city and state laws," Heartless said. "I'm doing what I have been asked to do."

If anything, he said people are just more aware.

"We haven't changed anything overnight because we haven't really needed to," Heartless said. "It's a recurring thing - we're all down there. We're all trying to get on the same page and work together.

"I just wish other people would see it that way."

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Information from: Daily Record, http://www.kvnews.com