The Denver City Council voted Monday unanimously to delay for two weeks a decision on an ordinance that would allow some entertainment establishments to operate until 4 a.m.

Alcohol sales and consumption would still end at 2 a.m. under state law, but establishments could keep music, dancing and other entertainment going for two additional hours.

Several members of the council agree that more time was needed to evaluate proposed amendments to the bill and to gather additional information.

Councilmember Jamie Torres noted that among her reservations with the bill is the potential for the state legislation regarding the sale and consumption of alcohol to change as well.

“We open up our window across the city at 4 a.m., and they happen to change theirs; it’s a snowball effect,” Torres said.

City officials have argued the current code inadequately regulates nightlife entertainment venues and lacks specific safety and security requirements to prevent violence and disorderly conduct.

Some vendors, like Isaac Leon, who owns the Denver bars Canopy, Front Porch and Roosevelt, are apprehensive and suggest that keeping the doors open until 4 a.m. is not profitable

Leon’s bars do not serve food, and he does not see enough revenue in the two hours after alcohol sales stop to justify staying open.

“If there’s no revenue to be made, then there’s no point to be open,” Leon said.

Under the ordinance, any business offering live entertainment must maintain records for three years and provide them to a law enforcement officer or city official within three business days of a request, according to the bill text. For bars like Canopy, which regularly hosts entertainment past midnight, the ordinance also requires a security plan and background checks for owners and managers.

The ordinance states that nightlife entertainment businesses must be equipped with video surveillance and must adopt an approved security plan, but both requirements are part of rulemaking that has not happened yet.

Proponents also assert that the bill could help drive more business downtown.

“The Denver Metro Chamber has not taken a formal position on extending Denver’s nightlife hours, Leslie Oliver, the Chamber’s vice president of external affairs, told The Denver Gazette, “but we know a vibrant hospitality and entertainment sector is vital to Denver’s economic competitiveness and downtown vitality.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a national organization that advocates to end impaired driving, supports the delay decision.

“I think it’s the right move considering there were amendments put into play that not everyone had time to review,” Rebecca Green, MADD state executive director, told The Denver Gazette. “It does sound like, with more interaction with business owners and community members, that there are a lot of questions around that 4 a.m. piece, which of course, from MADD’s perspective, makes sense because there was not enough information about an actual plan around safety.”

Green stated the idea that two hours was not enough time for people to “sober up.”

If adopted, the measure would streamline the licensing process by rescinding licenses for amusement, dance hall, social room and cabaret establishments and establish three new licenses: limited entertainment business, nightlife entertainment business and adult entertainment business, effective April 1, 2027.

The bill is expected to return to the Denver City Council on Aug. 3.