'They refused to listen': Rain on 4th emptied by city of Austin over capacity discrepancy
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A popular queer nightclub, Rain on 4th, said it was shut down for more than an hour by the city of Austin after a "false claim of being over capacity."
Rain's owners said they were told to empty their space and "conduct people recounts", despite actually being under capacity by roughly 100 people, they claimed on social media.
"This is about the fact that one of the few spaces which is dedicated to our community, and just making sure they feel comfortable and safe, and especially right now with the trans population, they need a safe place," Scott Neal, managing partner of Rain on 4th, said
The city of Austin's Development Services Department, which oversees code compliance, and Austin Fire Department responded:
During Spring Festival Season, the City stands up multi-departmental Public Assembly Code Enforcement (PACE) teams to ensure events, bars, and venues are operating safely.
On the evening of March 15, a PACE team was dispatched to conduct an occupancy check at 315 Lavaca St. The team arrived at Rain’s alley entrance, which is directly next door, believing it was the address they’d been dispatched to. Upon arrival, they found significant discrepancies in the occupancy counts reported by the door staff at Rain. To ensure the safety of everyone in the venue, the Austin Fire Department temporarily cleared the venue, requiring patrons to exit for an occupancy count upon reentry.
We acknowledge there was an error in the initial address identification, but the decision to clear the venue was based on discrepancies found in the door counts. This was not a targeted action against this venue. DSD Code Compliance and the Austin Fire Department have been in contact with Rain’s ownership, and we are taking their concerns very seriously.
Rain disagreed that there was a discrepancy in the occupancy count.
"We've been in business for over 20 years...The manual counter is not able to keep up enough customer count with how many customers we see, so we keep track on an hourly basis," Neal said. "The number of customers in our counts are based on the number of customers in that last hour that have entered."
Neal said Rain on 4th explained how they do their count to both the fire department and code compliance but said the city emptied the busy establishment anyways.
"They refused to listen to reason, they refused to care, this is just 101," Neal said.
Council member representing downtown Austin responds
Rain on 4th is within Austin City Council Member Zohaib "Zo" Qadri's district. He said the following, in-part:
"I am deeply concerned with troubling reports of unacceptable interactions between the City of Austin and our LGBTQIA+ community. Numerous constituents and community leaders have reached out to our office regarding two separate incidents..."
The other incident Qadri is referring to was addressed by the Austin Police Department Tuesday, after Qadri's post. You can read more about that incident here.
"Austin must be a safe haven for all, and our queer community deserves city leaders that will continue to push for accountability and action," he wrote.