Villa Park tavern patrons can keep on dancing

Patrons at Villa Park taverns can keep on dancing on bars, tables and chairs for the time being.

The Villa Park board voted 4-2 Monday night against a proposal to prohibit tavern patrons from dancing on bars and tabletops. Trustees also nixed a companion measure barring bar employees from working while intoxicated.

Village President Joyce Stupegia and Trustee Richard Illian supported the restrictions.

"You now have consent to have whoever dance on the bars," Stupegia said after the vote. "Your bartenders can be intoxicated."

Trustee Tom Cullerton countered, "You can run your business the way you want, without government interference."

The vote followed some public comments and board member discussion.

"If it is a safety issue, then what about jungle gyms, skate parks and bike paths? People get hurt on these things all the time. Should we ban the use of those too?" asked Brendan Fitzharris, who owns Fitz's Irish Bulldog along St. Charles Road. "I know a guy who broke his hand playing Golden Tee video game. Are you going to ban that, too?

"This rule is absolutely ridiculous," Fitzharris added. "You are micromanaging business."

If a customer complains that a beer is flat, how is a bartender or owner supposed to determine whether that's true without tasting it and then risking a ticket and fine, Fitzharris asked. Also if a new drink comes along, how can bartenders and other employees describe it to customers if they've never tasted it, he asked.

"Sometimes it is part of our job to try a drink," he added.

Resident and former bar owner Scott Shepard agreed, saying he'd never heard of anyone getting hurt falling off a bar or tabletop.

"Dancing on tables and bars has been going on for centuries," Shepard said. "Where are the statistics (of people getting hurt)? I have a better chance of tripping in one of our streets."

Illian said he supported the regulations because they aimed to prevent drunk people from tripping down streets and sidewalks or engaging in other improper behavior because they are getting overserved, possibly by intoxicated bartenders.

But, Trustee David Hegland noted, existing laws already make public intoxication and disorderly conduct punishable crimes.

"We can enforce that right here, right now, without reaching into people's businesses," Hegland said.