The Metro Nashville Beer Permit Board granted permits to two pedal tavern companies.
The Beer Permit Board met on Thursday allowed Nashville Pedal Tavern and Sprocket Rocket Party Bike permits to sell beer. Also, customers can bring their own beer onto the pedal taverns.
Nashville Pedal Tavern received 12 permits and Sprocket Rocket Party Bike obtained 10. Both companies had been operating on temporary permits granted by Nashville Metro Council in 2021 and as such, never ceased operations.
Pedal taverns and other vehicles known as transportainment vehicles are staples of the downtown Nashville tourist scene. Transportainment vehicles are widely frequented by bachelorette and bachelor parties, as well as other tourist groups.
According to Metro Nashville’s website, “The Metropolitan Beer Permit Board has jurisdiction over licensing, regulating and controlling the transportation, storage, sale, distribution, possession, receipt and/or manufacture of beer of an alcoholic content of not more than eight percent by weight or any other beverage of like alcoholic content, and shall constitute the sole administrative agency in the Metropolitan Government for the administration of all laws and ordinances relating to beer and like alcoholic beverages.”
The Metro Beer Permit Board is composed of seven members who each serve four-year terms. The executive director is Benton McDonough.
In October of 2021, Nashville Metro Council cracked down on transportainment vehicles such as pedal taverns, tractors, and party buses. The council established a permitting process, restricted alcohol consumption on unenclosed vehicles, and gave the city the authority to further regulate by passing BL2021-911, an ordinance “amending Chapter 2.100 of the Metropolitan Code pertaining to the composition of the Metropolitan Transportation Licensing Commission, amending Title 6 of the Metropolitan Code pertaining to the operation and regulation of Entertainment Transportation Vehicles, amending Section 9.20.020 pertaining to vehicle noise, and amending Sections 6.75.240, 7.24.040, and 12.54.210 of the Metropolitan Code pertaining to the consumption of alcoholic beverages in vehicles.”
The ordinance received widespread support and was sponsored by councilmembers Freddie OConnell, Brett Withers, Erin Evans, Burkley Allen, Sharon Hurt, Bob Mendes, Emily Benedict, Russ Bradford, Ginny Welsch, Robert Swope, Kathleen Murphy, Colby Sledge, Kevin Rhoten, Tonya Hancock, Dave Rosenberg, Nancy VanReece, Zulfat Suara, Mary Carolyn Roberts, Zach Young, Joy Styles, Brandon Taylor, Delishia Porterfield, John Rutherford, Angie Henderson, Jeff Syracuse, Jennifer Gamble, Tom Cash, Thom Druffel, and Kyonzte Toombs. It passed 33-3.
Metro Council took action in the wake of several alcohol-related incidents involving transportainment vehicles where customers fell out of the vehicles.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pedal Tavern” by Prayitno Hadinata CC BY 2.0.
