Lady Lake officials are ready to cut hours at bars to clean up Spanish Springs.
Commissioners on Monday night heard from Police Chief Robert Tempesta who had proposed cutting off liquor sales at midnight rather than 2 a.m.
The chief indicated the late-night drinkers at Spanish Springs are coming from outside the town limits and are younger than most residents of the town.
“Our town seems to be the destination for those who want to continue their night,” the chief said.
Sumter County and Wildwood cut off liquor sales at midnight, with the exception of loosening the restriction on New Year’s Eve. Therefore, Brownwood and Lake Sumter Landing have not seen the same problems as Spanish Springs Town Square.
Tempesta added that if officers are tied up in late-night incidents at bars, the police are not patrolling the neighborhoods of taxpaying citizens.
“This has been a serious problem for many years,” said Commissioner Ruth Kussard. “We do not need any more trouble in this area. There is no reason for anyone to be there after midnight.”
Mayor James Rietz, who lives on the Historic Side of The Villages, said that over the weekend he could hear late-night music coming from Spanish Springs. He read excerpts from an email from a resident who said a large crowd had gathered in the parking lot behind Kilwin’s on Main Street at Spanish Springs Town Square. They had turned up rap music and apparently were playing a cat-and-mouse game with police.
“I have heard, ‘Don’t go down to Spanish Springs after midnight because it’s not a good place,’” the mayor said.
The mayor proposed that the hours for serving liquor be limited to 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, an even stricter limit than recommended by the police chief.
The commission voted 4-1 to accept the mayor’s recommendation for reducing hours for serving liquor at the bars. The lone dissenter was Commissioner Paul Hannan who voiced concern that the reduced hours could be detrimental to business at the bars.
The change will not take place immediately. The town will have to hold public hearings and listen to any comments from the public.
