The city's Downtown Entertainment Area consists of more than 100 restaurants, clubs and bars that sell alcohol past midnight. Increased attendance, safety incidents and code violations have contributed toward requests to better regulate these late-night uses.
As a result, four Land Development Code amendments help refine the nighttime operations of the Downtown Entertainment Area to increase safety, ensure compatibility of uses and reduce nuisances:
- Downtown Surface Parking: In order to mitigate security and safety concerns, the city requires certain operational and physical improvements when a surface parking lot is accessible to patrons after 10 p.m. This includes security requirements, lighting and landscaping improvements, and other rules for cordoning off parking lots when not in use.
- Downtown Sound Attenuation: In order for outdoor speakers to operate on private properties in compliance with the city's noise ordinance, a permit is required to verify that the outdoor system complies with the city's noise ordinance – accompanied by a noise report prepared by an independent, qualified acoustical engineer. This is coupled with noise ordinance changes, which raise the ceiling for sound, designed to create a manageable noise level within the Downtown Entertainment Area. Additional practical rules help lessen the overall level of noise coming from special events, sidewalk cafe speakers and other sources.
- After-Midnight Permit: A new administrative Special Use Permit is required for new businesses, or when there is a change in business ownership, to identify needed physical improvements and security operations for uses that operate after midnight.
- Business Tax Receipt: All promoters operating within the Downtown Entertainment Area are required to obtain a Business Tax Receipt. You can get one at orlando.gov/businesstaxreceipt.
These amendments were approved by the Orlando City Council on September 26, 2022.
To learn more about late-night manager requirements, go to "Register a Responsible Person for Your Business".
To schedule a meeting regarding a needed noise report for an outdoor speaker on private property or a Special Use Permit for an after-midnight use, please email cityplanning@orlando.gov.
To learn more about the Proposed City Code Updates related to Nightclubs and Alcohol Sales in downtown Orlando, review additional city resources here.