Bars vs. House Parties

FIRE SAFETY
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs are equipped with sprinklers, fire extinguishers, fire walls between floors and walls, a strobe and siren alarm system, manual fire alarm pull stations, have ‘safe occupant load’ limits & proper exiting. Restaurants and clubs are inspected at least yearly and the fire department conducts bar checks periodically to make sure the bars are safe.

In addition, all bars are required to have their managers trained by the Iowa City Fire Department as crowd control managers in the event of a fire and are required to have a fire safety plan submitted and approved by the ICFD.

House Parties
Houses are built to residential standards which are far less strict than commercial assembly requirements. Many homes are very old with very narrow staircases and exits. Fire sprinklers are non-existent and there is no one to assist in evacuation.

BUILDING SAFETY
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs are required to pass a yearly building inspection. Electrical systems, plumbing, structure and building maintenance are routinely inspected.

House Parties
Houses are built to accommodate a small number of people. Most do not have the structure to support many people on a floor or balcony.

INSURANCE
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs carry premises liability insurance in case anyone gets hurt. They are also required to carry “dram shop” insurance which covers innocent third parties (for example a drunk driving accident).

House Parties
Most rental tenants do not have insurance that covers parties.

TAXES
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs pay many taxes: employment taxes, property taxes, and payroll taxes. They also collect a 5% sales tax and a 1% local school tax.

House Parties
The money collected at parties is pocketed; only sales tax on party supplies is paid.

THE ECONOMY
Restaurants and Clubs
In addition to taxes, bars contribute greatly to the local economy. Restaurants and clubs employ thousands of people in Iowa City, most of whom make $10 to $30 per hour. Rents are paid and most of the goods and services that are purchased by bars are purchased locally.

AGE
Restaurants and Clubs
Currently, you must be at least 19 to enter a bar after 10:00 PM. Restaurants and clubs have trained door staff and servers to properly check identification. The success rate with which bars pass police stings indicate that this is being done well.

House Parties
No one asks for ID’s at house parties. Many times high school children attend these parties because they never are asked to produce identification.

SEXUAL ASSAULTS
Restaurants and Clubs
Staff is trained to look for date rape drugs and other suspicious activity. If a woman passes out or falls asleep, help can be obtained immediately.

House Parties
There are many unsafe places in a house. Easy access to bedrooms, bathrooms, closets and basements make it dangerous for a woman if she passes out or falls asleep. Date rape drugs and other illegal drugs are not easily detected. Getting home safely after a party also sometimes presents a problem, because of neighborhoods not being well lit and taxicabs not being readily available.

CABS
Restaurants and Clubs
There are 15 taxicab companies that routinely circle the downtown business district. Usually within minutes a taxi may be flagged down. Many cabs double park and wait directly outside the doors of the bars.

House Parties
While a taxi may be called to a residence, there is usually a delay in its arrival and flagging down a cab is almost impossible.

STAFF
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs employ and train many people to insure the safety of its customers, and all of them remain SOBER. If a fight breaks out, bar staff is trained to quickly handle the situation. Servers are trained to monitor the crowd for unsafe situations to prevent them before they happen.

House Parties
Rarely is anybody in control and if somebody is, it is likely they have been drinking too.

POLICE SAFETY
Restaurants and Clubs
If a police officers responds to a call at an establishment, they will have staff assistance upon arrival. Most often, they are briefed by staff/management before they even enter the building regarding the situation.

House Parties
Officers commonly have to enter a situation blindly. They may encounter weapons, drugs, gangs, etc.

LEVEL OF INTOXICATION
Restaurants and Clubs
Bartenders are trained to ‘cut off’ a guest who is intoxicated. In fact, it is illegal to serve an intoxicated patron. Most downtown bartenders are required to be TIPS certified. TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) is the global leader in education and training for the responsible service, sale, and consumption of alcohol. www.gettips.com

Also, serving sizes at downtown establishments are consistent, so patrons can gauge how much alcohol they have consumed.

A 2006 ISU study of Harvard College Alcohol Study (CAS) data obtained from a survey of 12,830 students found a rate of underage high risk drinking of 47% at off-campus parties, as opposed to just 31% for restaurants and clubs. The CAS analysis (2002) shows the underage rate of 5+ drinks at parties is 49.3%, and 40.9% for bars. The author of the CAS study concludes that "Because they offer less access to social controls from both the campus and community, off-campus parties pose greater difficulties related to successful intervention."

House Parties
Guests are not monitored and only very rarely ‘cut off’. Large beer cups and spiked 'jungle juice' make it hard to know how much a drinker is actually consuming. Alcohol is very cheap and oftentimes is “all you can drink”.

Drinking games such as ‘flippy cup’, ‘beer bong’ and ‘quarters’, which are common at parties, all greatly increase the occurrence and level of intoxication. By city code, these activities are illegal in bars. For more information and studies on this click or go to: http://www.bobthompson.org/21.html

NOISE
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs are located in commercial zones where noise is allowed.

House Parties
Located in residential neighborhoods, the noise from parties oftentimes creates problems among neighbors and/or other tenants in a building.

TRASH
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs generally do not let guests leave with cups and other garbage and instruct staff to clean up messes left at the end of an evening.

House Parties
The morning after a party, beer cans, cups, beer cases, and other garbage is strewn around the neighborhood.

PROPERTY DAMAGE
Restaurants and Clubs
When things are damaged in a restaurant or club, the owner is responsible for the cost to fix them. The concentration of police officers downtown minimizes vandalism.

House Parties
The financial ramifications of vandalism are mostly passed on to the landlords and the community.

LICENSES (LIQUOR)
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs are issued liquor licenses by the State of Iowa. In order to get them renewed, bars must adhere to myriad state and local laws. If they do not, their licenses will be suspended or revoked.

House Parties
House parties sell and distribute alcohol without a license. This is called bootlegging and is illegal.

ILLEGAL DRUGS
Restaurants and Clubs
Bar staff is trained to watch for illegal drugs. The high police presence in bars also deters drug use in downtown establishments.

House Parties
Illegal drugs are can be found at parties in private homes, as police are not allowed to enter them without consent.

CENTRALLY LOCATED
Restaurants and Clubs
Most restaurants and clubs are centrally located in a commercial zone. This allows quick police/fire/EMT response. Staff is always available to assist as well.

House Parties
The location of a victim may be difficult to find and response times may be slow when emergency services are needed.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Restaurants and Clubs
All establishments are required to pass a yearly inspection from the health department. Among many other things, these inspections make sure bathrooms are in working order, ice machines and all equipment are clean, and food such as fruit & juices are stored at the proper temperature.

RESTROOMS
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs are required to have a certain amount of restroom space in relation to the size of the establishment.

House Parties
One or two bathrooms in a house usually are not nearly enough bathroom space, and this results in public urination.

HOURS OF OPERATION
Restaurants and Clubs
Restaurants and clubs are required by law to close at 2:00 AM.

Will the State of Iowa keg registration law reduce house parties in Iowa City? NO

Less than 10% of all parties in Iowa City involve a keg.
Students prefer hard liquor to beer at house parties.
Liquor is cheaper (for the same alcohol content) and easier than buying a keg.
Buying beer in cans is only slightly (about 10 - 20%) more expensive than buying beer in a keg.