Program to waive fees for downtown taverns extended
A program credited with fueling the development of quirky taverns and hip lounges in downtown Las Vegas will be extended another year.
The City Council on Wednesday voted 7-0 in favor of renewing a program that waives fees for urban lounge and tavern limited licenses.
The program, in place since 2010, has waived $540,000 in license fees for 16 properties in the Fremont East Entertainment District and 18b Arts District.
By extending it another year, the council is giving more aspiring bar owners a chance to get started without having to pay a $20,000 or $50,000 license fee.
Another extension is good news for small operators looking to maintain economic momentum in the burgeoning downtown nightlife scene.
Michael Cornthwaite, who paid the $20,000 fee to open the Downtown Cocktail Room, had the fee waived when opening the Beat . He is working to open another project in the former 7-Eleven at Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street and hopeful for another waiver.
“With all the fees that are associated ... when you are trying to start a small business, $20,000 might cover two months of your operations or make up for rent or operating supplies for a good period of time,” Cornthwaite said. “It is still a huge amount of money to most people.”
The program covers tavern limited and urban lounge licenses issued in the Fremont Street Entertainment District and the 18b Arts District.
Tavern limited licenses, common along Fremont Street, are for bars that offer live music on a regular basis and don’t have gambling. Urban lounge licenses, available only in the arts district, are small taverns with no more than five video gambling machines.
City Planning Director Flinn Fagg said the fee waiver program is small relative to the approximately $25 million the city reaps in licensing fees annually.
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at
bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.
