Lawrence residents David Terrell, right, and Ricky Brown watch the Home Run Derby of this year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game at the Eighth Street Taproom, 801 N.H., in downtown Lawrence. Lawrence bar owners met with city staffers July 11, 2007, about creating new regulations for bars and 'entertainment venues' to help make downtown more safe.

City commissioners on Tuesday were lukewarm to a pair of proposals to create a new Lawrence system of regulations for bars and drinking establishments to address public safety issues.

Instead, commissioners said they wanted to explore a new proposal by Commissioner Mike Amyx that would create a disorderly business ordinance that would cover all Lawrence businesses, not just bars and clubs.

“We need a procedure to deal with businesses on an individual basis,” Amyx said.

Approximately a half-dozen members of the bar and entertainment industry urged commissioners to reject a pair of proposals that were recommended by staff members. One would have required bars, nightclubs and other entertainment venues to get a special city license, in addition to the state liquor license. The second proposal would have required all bars to receive a special use permit that could have been pulled by city commissioners following complaints from neighbors.

Both proposals would have allowed city regulators to look not only at activities that happened inside the bars but also at activities that happened adjacent to the bars, such as in city parking lots or on the public sidewalk near a club.

“The real problem I have with this is that the random acts of other people could put my livelihood at risk,” said Peach Madl, an owner of the Sandbar, a downtown bar.

All five commissioners said they were committed to addressing concerns of declining public safety in downtown and around bars, but several commissioners also said they were uncomfortable with the idea of the City Commission having such direct control over an establishment’s ability to operate.

“I have some concerns about putting the fate of businesses in the hands of elected officials who sometimes may be trying to make a political statement by revoking a license,” said Mayor Sue Hack.

Amyx’s proposal would work much like the city’s current disorderly house ordinance. That ordinance keeps track of how many time police officers respond to violations at a particular address. Locations that have a high number of calls can be labeled a disorderly house, which requires the owner to attend an “abatement conference” with a city attorney.

If the abatement conference doesn’t solve the problems, the city can file suit against the property in Municipal Court. The court can assess fines or order the utilities to be disconnected.

A staff report on Amyx’s idea will be prepared in early September.