Huntington Beach City Council members have reconsidered their stance on alcohol downtown, and new businesses serving alcohol will be allowed to remain open until midnight, provided they dry out well before closing.

Just last month, the council voted to forbid further alcohol licenses to businesses that stay open later than 10 p.m. That decision was thrown out Monday in favor of instead restricting the hours of alcohol sales.

While new businesses can now stay open until midnight, they must stop selling alcohol at 10 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

The action was proposed by Councilman Joe Carchio, who argued that the new rules make more sense for downtown businesses with competition on the horizon.

“Pacific City is coming,” Carchio said of a sprawling shopping and dining center under development along Pacific Coast Highway. “The restaurants down there have the ability to stay open late. The restaurants downtown are not going to be able to compete if they can’t serve food to make up some of that time and money.”

Councilwoman Jill Hardy offered an argument from a patron’s view: Customers downtown might want to have a quiet conversation or get some food in a place that doesn’t have a party atmosphere. Restaurants open an hour or two extra would provide a respite around closing time.

“The purpose is to change the atmosphere downtown,” Hardy said. “I think by defining what a restaurant is versus a bar, we can do that with the hours of alcohol sales without restricting the hours of operation for restaurants.”

The new rules will be put in place via a zoning text amendment, which the council approved 4-3. Connie Boardman, Mayor Matthew Harper and Councilman Dave Sullivan were opposed.

Contact the writer: jwinslow@ocregister.com