Entrepreneurs hoping to open a new bar in Columbus will have to wait to receive a permit.

The Columbus City Council March 20 voted to place an indefinite moratorium (or hold) on issuing permits for new nightclubs, bars and taverns, until the city’s current ordinance can be redefined. The council unanimously voted for the moratorium, following a suggestion from City Attorney Jeff Turnage.

The moratorium stems from a March 12 meeting of the Columbus Planning Commission, when Donald Pope, owner of the 4th Quarter Bar and Grill, was permitted to have occasional live music at his establishment.

Pope asked for a variance to the city’s existing ordinance to allow a bar, nightclub or tavern in an area zoned as a C-1 (neighborhood commercial) district.

“We felt this is something we needed to look at; we need a clear definition of what is a bar and what is a restaurant,” Turnage said. “If a business is zoned as a restaurant and it is staying open later or charging a cover (admission fee), then it probably needs to be zoned as a bar, nightclub or tavern.”

“One of the biggest things that separates a restaurant from a bar, nightclub or tavern is the parking ratio,” said Columbus Building Official Kenny Wiegel said. “A restaurant is required to have less parking spaces, than a nightclub.”

Another key issue for bars is the requirement of an automatic shutdown system or “shunt” in case of a fire. An existing city ordinance mandates nightclubs, bars and taverns be equipped with an automatic shut-off (shunt) relay to stop music in case of a fire.

“A shunt is essentially a relay that is plugged into the same outlet that the music is plugged into,” explained Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Ken Moore. “It is connected to the fire and smoke alarms, and it will automatically shutdown the music if one of the alarms is sounded. This is so that we can get everyone’s attention, in case there is a fire. Loud music can be distracting during a fire.”

Moore said the city adapted the code requiring a shunt following a 2003 fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rode Island, where 100 people were killed, during a performance by the band Great White.

“We are going to start strictly enforcing this ordinance,” Moore said. “We have given the local bars plenty of time to get up to code. New bars automatically have to install the shunts and have a sprinkler system.

With the difference between restaurants and bars blurred, Moore supports clarification of the code.

“I think we have to do this,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to enforce the code, when you have restaurants that stop serving food and begin nightclub activities, yet they want to stay classified as a restaurant. There needs to be some clarification.”

Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.