Angola, N.Y. (WBEN) - It appears the Village of Angola is attempting to follow suit with other municipalities like the Town of Evans and Village of East Aurora with changes to its open container laws, allowing people to be able to consume alcohol in public.
What that would entail is the village "banning" the old law in place, which then would allow for anyone to be able to carry an open container of beer, liquor or wine across the street, or across town without any penalty under law.
Angola Mayor Thomas Whelan is hoping that a change in this law will allow for some more freedom for residents and others who may want to drink freely across the village.
"I'm not looking at it as a benefit. It's just another avenue," said Mayor Whelan of the changes in the law. "When we have festivals and stuff, it would be an avenue for people, they could they could bring a six-pack of beer. When we have our concerts in the park, same thing. Just making life a little easier."
When talking to police chiefs and mayors of other municipalities like East Aurora and Evans, Whelan says there was no uptick in crime or anything like that, and life goes on without issues.
When it comes to the open, or the lack of an open container law in East Aurora, businesses like 42 North don't feel the affects of people flocking to the towns to be able to drink freely in public.
"What drives people to East Aurora is the Roycroft, the ice rink, a thriving Main Street. If people think having a lack of an open container law is going to drive business, that's really not the case here," said John Cimperman, founder and owner of 42 North.
When it comes to the benefit of no open container laws for a place like East Aurora, Cimperman sees it more as a convenience for residents and visitors, rather than a point of attraction for the municipality.
"If a customer wants to walk from one established to another, that's fine, but honestly, in East Aurora, you don't see too many open containers on the street, quite frankly," he said. "It's probably one of those laws that most people aren't aware of, but again, it really doesn't affect much, in ways of driving more visitation to East Aurora.
"East Aurora has not had an open container law dating back, I don't know, before I moved here 23 years ago. Quite frankly, it's really not a big deal here."
According to Whelan, the village board is expected to call this matter to a vote during a special meeting on Oct. 3, where it would be a simple yes or no vote on the spot with no additional time to debate the matter. And if the law is voted upon to be banned, it would be an immediate change.
"Like the one trustee, he said you can walk down the street and smoke marijuana, but you can't walk across the street to your neighbor's and have a bottle of beer with him, or a glass of beer or whatever. That's a good point," Whelan said. "I don't think it's going to change anything. I really don't think it's going to change one bit."
It may be one thing to change the current laws in place as just a sign of the evolving times from when the law was originally set in place year ago. However, Cimperman feels that if the law is being changed with the belief that it will drive business in another direction, it's not a reasonable enough excuse to make the change.
"I think if the voters in the municipality are in favor of it, great. But again, if the primary motive is to drive business, it doesn't affect us one way or the other," Cimperman said.
While this change in open container laws is likely going to see many people agree with the change, Whelan admits there has been some opposition in the matter.
"We had about, let's just say eight residents show up, but half of them didn't even live here. They were just in support of not seeing it happen, friends of people that lived in the village. So I don't think the opposition is all that great," Whelan said.
More of our conversation with Mayor Whelan is available in the player below: