Casper City Council to work with The Void owners on rule changes to allow new dance club downtown
CASPER, Wyo. — Owners of downtown venue The Void approached the Casper City Council on Tuesday with a request to consider amending city ordinances related to bottling clubs.
The reason the owners are requesting the change is because they have plans to open a new business separate from The Void that would offer nightlife to adults. The Void would continue to be an alcohol-free venue downtown catering to people under the age of 21, Seth Hollier, who owns the venue alongside Turner Logan and Brecken Burke, told Oil City News on Monday.
The new venue the owners plan to open would be located downtown and would offer dancing, DJ sets and other activities. Rather than sell alcohol, the owners want to allow people to bring their own limited amounts of alcohol under a business model Hollier described on Monday as “alcohol-light.”
“Limiting the amount of alcohol that you can take in means that you don’t have an unlimited, endless supply of alcohol that you can get at the bar,” he said. “It means that you’re going to hopefully pace yourself and not drink to a point where you’re so inebriated that it’s not really fun anymore.”
Hollier and Logan told the City Council on Tuesday that operating the business as they envision it would require some changes to the Municipal Code that currently impose restrictions on bottling clubs. They aren’t asking the City Council to throw out existing ordinances entirely, recognizing that the ordinances were implemented for a reason.
Rather, Hollier said they would like to work with the City Council to review why the existing ordinances are in place and search for a compromise that would continue to address whatever concerns the city may have while allowing the new business or others to operate in a safe manner.
Councilmember Kyle Gamroth said he has been pleased to see what The Void has been doing in terms of providing alcohol-free activities to people under 21 and that he liked the vision of offering something not heavily focused on alcohol for adults. Gamroth said he’d like to see the proposal to modify the bottling club ordinances added to a work session.
Mayor Ray Pacheco also spoke in favor of adding the item to a work session agenda and expressed appreciation for the manner in which Hollier and Logan presented to the City Council. He said he liked that they approached the City Council in the language of partnership and working together.
Councilmember Jai-Ayla Southerland asked whether the owners were under a timeline to get the changes completed in order to move forward with the new dance and music venue for adults that they are envisioning.
Hollier said that while a location has been identified and the owners will start to pay rent, he understands that the process to change ordinances is not immediate and said the business is prepared to be patient.