Raleigh hiring 'nightlife planner' to keep late-night hot spots under control

Raleigh has created a four-person Hospitality and Nightlife Division to serve as a liaison to the bars and restaurants. Three of the positions have been shifted from the city's Planning and Zoning office, and officials expect to hire a "hospitality and nightlife planner" by July to head the division.

In addition to handling outdoor dining permits, the planner's job description involves hitting the town on busy nights to perform on-site compliance checks and respond in real time to noise and nuisance complaints.

Sidewalk congestion will be another focus for the nightlife planner, Schoenfeld said, noting that sidewalks in the Glenwood South district are notoriously narrow and overcrowded, especially on weekend nights.

The Hospitality and Nightlife Division has been in the works since before the pandemic shuttered bars and curbed restaurant service last year. The city needed a way to respond to complaints from residents and copied an idea used by Miami, San Francisco, Austin, Texas, and other cities, Schoenfeld said.

"We want to be mindful of creating that fun atmosphere but also keeping in mind people live here as well," she said. "We’re trying to balance the needs of everyone and be that conduit between the businesses, between the residents, between the community stakeholders."

Greg Hatem, who owns several restaurants and bars in downtown Raleigh, said he believes the city's effort will help bars be better neighbors.

"Most of the people who are in enforcement would go home at 5 o’clock, so they would never really know what was going on at night," Hatem said. "We have to keep this balance downtown of making sure we attract people and keep people living here but making sure the restaurants and bars know what the rules and regs are."