Tampa City Council voted to deny a request to extend operating hours for Saddlebags, a large‑venue establishment in Ybor City, after a contested hearing in which neighborhood residents, nearby property managers and the applicant presented sharply different views about impacts and safety.

Staff introduced the application (AB22507) as a request to extend alcohol sales hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to 2 a.m. (and select nights before holidays), while the site’s other approvals remain. Development coordination staff and transportation staff told council the request was inconsistent with some land development regulations because of distance‑separation and other waiver requests.

Applicant counsel Jim Porter acknowledged the business has been open for about seven months and said the owners were seeking extended hours because the current limitations put the business in a difficult financial position. “They are in a bad situation, and we're here to make a a pitch of why it would be appropriate to extend the hours of operation,” Porter said.

Neighbors and representatives of nearby residential associations urged denial or continued limits, citing noise, trash, parking overflow and a history of violence on Seventh Avenue. Denise Sanseur, president of a historic neighborhood association, said, “Saddlebags originally applied as a restaurant, not a nightclub,” and argued that an 800‑person capacity plus late‑night hours would amount to a nightclub and erode neighborhood quality of life. She cited Chapter 14 noise limits and neighborhood complaints about late‑night disturbances in the Ybor corridor.

Supporters including nearby property managers and event promoters testified that Saddlebags had hosted community events and drawn a different crowd than the busiest nightlife blocks; they also said proximity to a surface parking lot and the venue’s security plan mitigated some concerns. The venue’s manager and security manager described operational safety measures, and one promoter said extended hours would allow more community and professional events in an underused part of Seventh Avenue.

After council deliberation, Councilwoman Hertek moved to deny the extension and Councilman Maniscalco seconded. The council took a roll‑call vote: the motion to deny carried with Councilmembers Maniscalco, Hertek, Carlson, Miranda and others voting yes; Councilmembers Viera and Clendenin voted no. Council discussed that the original approval had set hours to balance Ybor nightlife and neighborhood concerns; members who voted to deny cited the lack of evidence of changed conditions that would justify later hours and the risk of converting a restaurant‑oriented approval into nightclub operations.