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Staff \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/p>
The Sahara Hookah Cafe at the corner of Glenwood and Boylan. <\/p><\/div>\n
Yet neighbors say other problems with parking and noise continue. Parking restrictions that require permits for residents and their guests seems to have played a role in cutting down on neighborhood disturbances, but visitors to the area have started parking in the Partnership Elementary School lot.<\/p>\n
Raleigh Police Capt. Robert Council told members of the Law and Public Safety Committee Tuesday that school officials are hesitant to lock up the lot because other organizations use the school after hours. Residents also have an agreement with the school to use the lot as alternative parking. Council said despite the neighborhood complaints, the calls for service associated with the lot are very low. <\/p>\n
The RPD\u2019s Council also said the calls to the police at the Sahara have decreased dramatically. Since the first of the year, there have been only nine calls. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still difficult for us to gauge those calls for service as to whether they\u2019re specifically related to the hookah bar or other locations in and around there,\u201d Council said. \u201cI still think that\u2019s the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regulating Location<\/strong>
\nNeighborhood resident Phil Poe said the key issues with the hookah bar are its location and hours of operation, echoing comments he made almost a year earlier. The bar does not sell alcohol, but Poe said patrons of other Glenwood businesses head over to the Sahara after the other bars close as 2 a.m. <\/p>\nThese types of late-night establishments, he said, don\u2019t belong so close to residential neighborhoods. <\/p>\n
City Attorney Tom McCormick said in order to implement radius requirements, the city would have to show negative secondary effects on the surrounding neighborhood. Strip clubs and adult shops have documented negative secondary effects, which is why it is legal to impose radius requirements. <\/p>\n
Of the eight or so hookah bars police were able to identify, half have never had any calls for service. Paradise Hookah Lounge on Capital Boulevard has had 21 calls for service, which include a stabbing, fights and an assault. <\/p>\n