Naperville city council approves sweeping new bar regulations

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Naperville city council voted to approve sweeping new regulations for local bars on Tuesday night.

The western suburb is trying to curb excessive drinking and rowdy downtown partying. The city council approved the new ordinance regulating bars by a 7-2 vote.

They were responding to images, such as these on YouTube, showing a late-night brawl involving intoxicated young men in the middle of downtown Naperville.

But the operators of some local businesses are worried the regulations may end up affecting their customers, not the trouble-makers.

"The people that are causing the issues in town aren't spending $15 to $30 on a bottle of beer," said Ben Baggett, general manager at World of Beer.

The lawmakers approved two new regulations: one prohibits bars from offering big price reductions on drinks, and the other mandates training for security staff.

The next city council meeting will take up the rest of the ordinance, which includes proposals to require bars to close earlier and limits the serving size of beers.

Some council members started pushing for the new regulations after a deadly crash in July. The driver had allegedly been drinking at a downtown Naperville bar before he drove into a quarry and killed his two friends.

The regulations affect all Naperville bars.