CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – North Carolina state lawmakers are working on changing a law that is set to go into effect at the end of March involving food safety in bars.
Private bars had previously been exempt from health inspections since the North Carolina Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 was passed. In 2022, the ABC Omnibus bill removed the definition of a private bar but did not establish regulations for bars that serve food. In 2023, House Bill 125 did, and set requirements for bars to be subject to the same inspections and permitting as restaurants.
The new law requires bars to go through the same permitting and health inspections that restaurants do, but bar owners said some of the changes are too expensive or impossible to make.
“I don’t think for one moment that anybody’s plan was to destroy small, independent business in historic small towns in North Carolina,” bar owner Leslie Cox said.
Leslie and Brendan Cox are the co-owners of The Beagle in Chatham County and said that despite the new law’s intent, conforming to it is nearly impossible.
One challenge the owners face is that there must now be 36 inches between the fronts of every piece of equipment. Maintaining that much space between tables, even the most narrow ones, is difficult to do, Brendan said.
There are other physical changes that would need to be made to meet code that the owners said simply will not fit their historic building. They said that even if they could, the cost could drive customers away.
“Prices would go from being able to get a small plate for $9 or $10 to being $18 or $19,” the owners said.
Bars were only given 180 days to make the overhauls, with the changes scheduled to go in effect by March 27. Before that date, they have to figure out what they need to change, submit a plan to county health officials, get the plan reviewed and approved, then have a contractor do the work.
Jessica Sanders of the Wake County Department of Health talked about what happens after the plan is submitted and the work is done.
“We come out to do a site visit to verify that the claims match what is required in the field,” she said.
Sanders said the number of bars in her jurisdiction going through the change is technically unknown with just over five weeks until the deadline.
“It looks like we sent information packets out in November to about 200 or more possible impacted establishments,” she said.
The Beagle’s owners only learned about the changes at the turn of the new year, giving them even less time to figure things out.
“I care a lot about food scene here, being vibrant and diverse and different than everywhere else,” Brendan said. “I worry that if we’re not looking at the physical limitations of the small spaces and making accommodations, we’re going to end up with the same 12 restaurants in every town in North Carolina. And that’s not good for anybody.”
The General Assembly is looking to make changes to this law, but that will not be until they reconvene in April, which is after the new law goes into effect.
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