If you are a musician, venue/bar/restaurant owner, or a Syracuse citizen who enjoys live music, you’ll want to read this.
On June 4, City Auditor Alex Marion held a press conference in front of the Westcott Theater, discussing the overhaul of the city’s licensing requirements, specifically regarding entertainment licenses. He mentioned that revenue from licensing is down 80% from 2016, but not to worry – he has a plan.
You can watch the press conference HERE.
On June 6, a downtown music venue received a visit from the Fire Marshal to inform them that the city now requires a permit for every show, in addition to the blanket entertainment license we all hold. He didn’t have much more information than that.
Syracuse venue owners began to compare notes. None of us had heard about this major shift in requirements, and a search online turned up two license applications.
The Entertainment/Exhibit License is $55. The Concert License is $15, with an annual cap of $150. Both are paper applications that require the services of a notary public. Because apparently Syracuse is trapped in 1975.
Neither included any guidance about which businesses are required to obtain these permits.
What about bars or restaurants that host regular live music, but don’t sell tickets? Does it matter if it’s a free show versus a show with a cover charge or ticket? Does the size of the venue matter? Or is it literally everyone hosting live music?
I emailed the permit office for clarification and got this response:
“The concert license application is for concerts only which I believe applies to your business, live music, live bands, live DJ’s etc. The Entertainment/Exhibit license is for all other events or exhibits that are not solely concerts, I don’t believe this will apply to your business considering it’s a live music venue. These licenses are required for every live show, event, concert etc. taking place in the City of Syracuse so we can ensure the safety of our community. We require all event/music venues to file one application per show.
The city will not exceed $150.00 (one hundred-fifty dollars) per calendar year in concert license fees per business, since it is $15.00 (fifteen dollars) per application – we will charge for 10 shows and all additional shows are not of cost to you but still require an application. I want to stress the importance of Police and Fire being aware of the concerts taking place, they are the two reviewers of these applications. “
I followed up asking which businesses they are targeting, and asked if shows like drag, comedy, magic, and trivia fall under the Entertainment/Exhibit license, since they are not live music – but we all host them on occasion.
The license coordinator did not respond for a couple of days, and after some prodding, told me she needs to get the answers from their Corporation Counsel, and they will have more information next week.
It sure sounds like someone created this new permit requirement without considering who the new rule applies to, doesn’t it?
More food for thought:
- Syracuse’s smaller venues present 120-265 shows per year… EACH. Is the city hiring an office full of people to manage the avalanche of incoming paperwork?
- Venues are required to sign contracts with a guarantee for the bands. What if our permit request is denied after we have signed the contract? Should we wait to announce shows until we have been approved?
- Not a single venue has a large support staff; we are all already stretched thin. It is wildly unrealistic to expect us to submit 150+ new permit applications.
- Venues are already grappling with the collapse of the current business model, which relies on alcohol sales. Alcohol sales are trending down, sales are cratering, and the industry is scrambling to reimagine how we are supposed to keep our doors open. We need support from our local government, not additional hurdles.
- It’s not surprising that license revenue is down – the city is notorious for not sending renewal notices out on business licenses.
THIS IS ABSOLUTLY BONKERS, BAT-SHIT CRAZY INSANITY.
We already have a ridiculous number of licenses and permits, more than most businesses… This is what we needed in order to open our club:
- The Special Permit, which has an obscene list of required submittals and takes months to obtain approval. It is not required outside of the city of Syracuse.
- An Entertainment license, which allows us to have live music.
- A Sign Permit.
- A Health Department permit, so we can serve food.
- A liquor license.
- A plumbing permit, which ensured that our plumbing work was done by master plumbers licensed in the city of Syracuse.
- A certificate of use, which seems to be pieces and parts of the other permits.
- A certificate of inspection, which is the city checking out our electrical work, and the fire marshal checking for fire hazards.
And they all come with fees, of course. As I recall, we spent well over $5000 in permit fees to open the club.
Additionally, we had to get waivers for the following:
- Adding vinyl lettering to our door. The sign permit only allows for one sign on the building, and we had the audacious idea to put our business name on our front door.
- Presenting live music – despite the fact that there has been live music in our building at least as far back as the early 1940s.
- Not having off-street parking. How many businesses have the luxury of a giant attached parking lot?
AND –
We had to appear in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals to get permission to put our musicians on a stage. An 8.5’x11’ stage that is 18” off the ground – about the size of a drum riser.
The permit system DOES need an overhaul. Entrepreneurs who are willing to put their time, money, and sweat equity into launching a business venture (especially in a neighborhood that needs some extra love) should be allowed to do so without navigating this ridiculous swamp of bureaucratic paperwork.
My colleagues and I have banded together and are working to come up with a solution that will give the city what they are looking for without crushing us under the weight of unnecessary paperwork. We hope they will allow us to submit a list of our shows on a quarterly or monthly basis – our events are all posted publicly on our websites anyway – or perhaps revert to the simple annual license we have had since we opened.
I suspect if they followed up with all the restaurants and bars that should have an annual entertainment license and sent renewals out to existing license holders, they could resolve their license revenue problem in short order.
We all do our best to comply with the rules and regulations, but if this new requirement is “successful” – it will push live music out of Syracuse entirely.
