More Duval County restaurants could be allowed to serve liquor if new bills pass

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It could soon be easier to get a cocktail while dining out.

Duval County is asking state lawmakers to relax liquor license requirements for small businesses.

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Lawmakers met today to discuss two bills focused on businesses in these nine zones:

• Northside West
• Northside East
• Southbank
• Riverside Avondale Urban Transition Area
• Riverside Avondale Commercial Character Areas
• Murray Hill Commercial Area
• Springfield Commercial Area
• San Marco Transportation Corridor
• Kings Avenue Commercial Corridor

One restaurant owner along the Kings Avenue corridor says this is all about giving customers more options.

Michael Schmidt is the co-owner of The Bearded Pig, with locations in Jacksonville Beach and San Marco.

The biggest difference is you can get cocktails in Jax Beach, just not along Kings Avenue in San Marco. That’s because there aren’t enough seats in San Marco.

“It was a seating capacity (issue),” Schmidt pointed out.

He hopes new bills he’s helped work on with Duval County leaders will change that.

This new proposal would allow restaurants with at least 50 seats to apply for a full liquor license, versus the standard 150-seat requirement (which also requires a certain amount of square footage).

Action News Jax told you in 2017 when then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a similar law relaxing liquor requirements for urban core areas like Murray Hill, Springfield and San Marco; but it didn’t include the corridor where The Bearded Pig is located.

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“This is something that could really spur growth down Kings Avenue,” Schmidt said.

Restaurants would still be required to open during normal business hours and serve food.

“People are eating, they aren’t just there to drink,” he explained.

Bobby Elmore visits this area often, and enjoys doing both. But he says options matter.

“When I go in a place that has no cocktails and my wife wants a vodka tonic, I’d like for her to be able to get one,” he said. He also explained that he supports relaxing those current limits to give small restaurants a chance.

“The smaller business person should have an equal opportunity to make money as well as a larger business person,” he emphasized.

Beyond the profit opportunity, Schmidt says it comes down to “giving more options to our customers.”

We will follow up on this hearing, and bring you any further updates on-air and online.

You can review both proposed bills below:

On Action News Jax at 5, we will take a closer look at what makes these proposed bills different from a law that passed back in 2017, which also aimed to allow small businesses to apply for full liquor licenses.

We will follow up on this hearing, and bring you any further updates on-air and online.

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