BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A proposal before the Buffalo Common Council would make Chippewa Street a 21-and-over district on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The resolution, introduced by Councilman Mitch Nowakowski, calls for the city's legal department to explore the feasibility of enforcing an age restriction for the popular entertainment district.
The move follows problems with large, unruly crowds who gather outside on the streets and in the parking lots. A 17-year-old was shot in the back early on the morning of July 12 and an 18-year-old was arrested with three guns. Last November, a 19-year-old man was killed and a second 19-year-old was wounded in a double shooting in a parking lot on Chippewa.
Chris Ring, president of the Chippewa Alliance and co-owner of The Rec Room, said his organization supports the proposal.
"It eliminates what we consider the troublemakers, the under-21 clientele," Ring said.
Ring said many establishments on Chippewa, including his own, currently hold events for the under-21 crowd. He said those events could continue, but would need to wrap up by 10 p.m.
Ring said the age restriction would also allow law enforcement to focus its resources more efficiently.
"You have police focused on just the entry points because we have private security in the secure perimeter. So now it minimizes the amount of square footage the police actually have to police," Ring said.
WATCH: Buffalo Common Council considers age restriction proposal for Chippewa Street entertainment district
Dan Markovich, owner of Buffalo Tap House, also supports the proposal and wants to see vehicle traffic shut down on Chippewa.
"I want to see the violence go away, the loitering go away," Markovich said. "I think the street could look like any big city, entertainment district like it's supposed to."
Not all Chippewa bar owners agree. Tim Walton, event manager at Venu and Bottom's Up, said he is one of several business owners in the Chippewa District who don't want a strictly 21-and-over district. His venues have a tradition of under-21 college nights.
Walton says the problem is not the young people coming into the bars — the problem is the people who mingle outside and in parking lots and never even intend to go into the establishments.
"You close 18 to Chippewa on the other side of the parking lot is still 18 plus. You're going to have people down here still," Walton said.
Walton said the strong police presence this past weekend kept things calm. He shared video he shot at 1:29 a.m. Sunday showing lots of officers on the street and barricades keeping people and cars out of the middle of the street.
"We saw somebody who had an open container. They said no and they wouldn't refuse to give it to the cop. They were immediately ticketed and taken care of right then," Walton said.
The proposal is scheduled for discussion before the Buffalo Common Council on Tuesday.
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