Two Jacksonville City Council committees approved legislation Feb. 17 that would allow bars in some areas of Downtown to remain open until 3 a.m.
Ordinance 2026-0063, proposed by Council member Raul Arias, would grant bars in the NorthCore, Central Core and Sports and Entertainment District an extra hour past the current 2 a.m. cutoff to serve alcoholic beverages. An amendment would include the Brooklyn area.
Jacksonville’s NorthCore is bordered by Broad and Main streets to the east and west, and by State and Church streets to the north and south.
The Central Core, which is identified by the Downtown Investment Authority as City Center, is bordered by Broad Street to the east, Church Street to the north, the St. Johns River to the south until Main Street, and to the west by the river and Adams Street until Liberty Street.
The Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety committee voted 6-1 to recommend approval of the ordinance, and the Rules Committee followed suit with a 5-1 vote, with member Mike Gay voting no on both committees. Council member Ron Salem was away from the dais during the Rules Committee vote.
Explaining his votes, Gay said he had heard opposition to the ordinance from community members.
Arias pitched the bill to committee members as economic development for Downtown, as Council has begun discussions about reducing the city’s commitment to financial incentives for the area.
“We compare ourselves to all these other larger cities, not only in Florida, but across the United States,” Arias said.
“This is one of the components that I think is missing for us to actually be on the mark on the map, to be able to say we are a world-class city," he said.
“We just wanted to point out that that will be a really good thing in terms of adding jobs to the Downtown district, bringing in new businesses, getting more tax revenue for the city, and also creating an ecosystem Downtown,” Evan Rajta, part-owner of Decca Live and Keane’s Tavern, told the Neighborhoods Committee.
Committee members expressed concern that allowing later alcohol sales could create safety issues. Council member Chris Miller told the committee that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office informed him that it was “indifferent” to the bill.
The bill that advanced through the Rules Committee carried an amendment that would include Brooklyn bars and restaurants in the hour extension. Member Jimmy Peluso, who represents Downtown, which includes Brooklyn, argued that the neighborhood fit the model for the other areas in Arias’ bill.
Committee members also considered, and rejected, an amendment to the bill that would have included certain bars in Norwood in Northwest Jacksonville.
Proposed by Council member Ju’Coby Pittman, that measure was withdrawn after committee members shared concerns about the process of introducing the amendment and the safety issues that later alcohol sales could pose to Norwood.
“I would prefer to pass this bill as it is,” Council member Ron Salem said.
“Then, if areas such as the ones Council member Pittman has mentioned, want to extend their hours, come back with a separate bill so there will be public hearings and everything else, and we’ll know how people feel about it in that particular area.”
Pittman told committee members she would come back with a similar bill for the Norwood area.
The bill is scheduled for a full Council vote Feb. 25.