PROVO — On a typical Friday night, while much of Provo sleeps, Mark Walker and his friends eat.
At 2 a.m. they would rather be someplace besides the Village Inn eating waffles — they would rather be dancing at Club Omni.
Walker and others wish the city would allow Utah County's only dance club to stay open past 1 a.m., but that is not likely. On Tuesday the City Council considered making the ordinance that regulates dance clubs more restrictive. It took no action and will consider the ordinance again in January.
A task force that drafted the new ordinance decided 1 a.m. was late enough, but Club Omni is pushing for a later time because most of its patrons don't arrive until at least 10 p.m.
"These people have different lifestyles than you or I, but they are not inherently evil," Club Omni owner Ken Merena said. "If an individual is old enough to fight and die for his country he's old enough to decide his own bedtime."
Besides shutdown at 1 a.m., the ordinance would also require video surveillance at any public dance. Dances sponsored by the city, schools or churches would be exempt from the ordinance.
Merena thinks this is unfair. What he most wants, besides permission to close at 2 a.m., is that the ordinance be enforced upon his competitors.
Merena's main competition is Brigham Young University. Merena says his business on Latin Night has dropped 70 percent since a BYU club started hosting Latin dances every Friday. On Latin Night, Merena says, he makes more money than on every other night combined.
Merena says for years he has been required to follow the ordinance while those who host public dances at places like Seven Peaks and Gold's Gym have not.
"If they're going to let the public in, they better have the same standards as anybody else," said Tom Scribner, Merena's attorney.
Despite an assurance from Councilman Paul Warner that the ordinance would apply to any public dance, Merena remains skeptical.
Merena thinks the ordinance targets Club Omni and says installing video cameras — which cost thousands of dollars — would put him out of business.
Some council members are not sold on the idea of video surveillance. Both Stan Lockhart and Barbara Sandstrom said video cameras don't stop crime.
"You may catch someone, but you're not going to stop them. It just smacks of big brother to me that we're monitoring the goings on of a private club," Lockhart said.
Provo Police Capt. Keith Teuscher agrees that video surveillance may not always stop crime, but he said it does help police catch criminals.
Much of the new ordinance is in response to safety concerns after a 1998 slaying at Club Omni. Regular patrons now say the club is safe.
E-mail: jhyde@desnews.com