Montgomery County Requiring Businesses Open Late to Have Safety Plans

Montgomery County businesses that stay open late soon will have to develop safety plans under a bill approved by the County Council Tuesday.

The legislation responds to an increase in crime, particularly in Silver Spring.

“Silver Spring wasn’t nothing like this,” resident Gwendolyn Sorrell said. “All the things that’s going on now, we never had that.”

In a 9-2 vote, the Council voted to pass legislation requiring businesses open overnight to develop their own safety plans.

The county executive would need to approve their plans, which could require businesses to have security, upgraded exterior lighting and security cameras. If the security plan is rejected, the business would not be allowed to operate during certain hours.

This impacts businesses with on-site consumption of tobacco, alcohol, food or cannabis that are open from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. or businesses that are open between midnight and 2 a.m. that have had two or more serious instances where law enforcement has had to respond in the past 12 months.

“We want all of our residents and patrons to be safe and to feel safe,” Council President Evan Glass said.

“This is not about shutting you down,” Montgomery County police Capt. Dave Reed said. “This is not about us telling you how to run your business. This is us working in a partnership with you in order to make the community safe.”

There is a 180-day period to develop an implementation plan, and after that, businesses will have 90 days to submit their safety plans.

About 20-30 businesses are impacted.