City Council seeks alcohol ban at San Diegobeaches

Summer days at the beach will be alcohol-free this year. At leastthat’s the way it will be if San Diego City CouncilmanByron Wear gets his way. District 2 representative Wear is supportinga 24-hour ban on alcohol at all city beaches. This means PacificBeach, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach will no longer allow alcoholbetween the hours of noon and 8 p.m.

Wear’s reasons for supporting the ban are quite understandable. Hefeels that the number of alcohol-related arrests at these beaches isunacceptable, and points to La Jolla, where alcohol on the beach hasbeen illegal since 1991 and the rate of alcohol-related arrests ismuch lower. He points to underage drinking, public drunkenness, anddriving under the influence as arrests that he hopes the ban willcombat.

As noble as Wear’s intentions are, he is focusing his energies ona solution that will likely prove ineffective at best. Look at thecommunity of La Jolla compared to the communities of Pacific, Missionand Ocean Beach. La Jolla is a middle-class to upper middle-classcommunity and is home mostly to professionals and retiredprofessionals that are middle-aged and older. The other threecommunities cater largely to non-professionals, college students andrecent graduates who are in their twenties or early thirties. Part ofthe appeal of these three beaches is the laid-back, party atmosphere.Folks in La Jolla are more concerned with preserving a quiet, familyenvironment. In short, what works in La Jolla may not work everywhereelse.

It seems that Wear also overlooked several other characteristicsof the communities. All of them, especially Pacific Beach, containnumerous bars. If people can’t drink on the sand in Pacific Beach,than it is quite likely that they will just move the party up GarnetAvenue or to one of the bars lining the coast. D.U.I.s, urinating inpublic, fights, and other scenarios that are fueled by alcohol, arejust as likely to occur off the sand. Underage drinkers are notlikely to put down the beer just because Byron Wear tells them theyhave to. There are plenty of other places to drink.

The most important thing to consider is what the alcohol ban willdo to area businesses. Wear should take a ride some time throughPacific, Mission and Ocean Beach and count all the privately andfamily-owned liquor stores along the coast that depend heavily on thealcohol sales to beach dwellers between the hours of noon and 8 p.m.What does he think the ban will do to their livelihood? The owners ofPalm Liquor on Mission Boulevard in Pacific Beach know what theproposed ban could mean to them.

This family owned business, which has serviced the beach area foryears is doing all it can to fight back. The owners are allowingcustomers the opportunity to sign a petition opposing the ban. Theyreceive about 90 percent of their business from tourists and youngpeople who come to the beach during Spring Break and the summer. Asone of the owners put it, “Ten years ago you could walk down thestreet with a drink in your hands. Now you can’t do anything. Everyyear, more and more of our freedoms are taken away.”

The manager of a liquor store in Mission Beach is already worriedshe’ll lose her job if the ban becomes a reality.

The Pacific Beach Town Council will be voting on the issue at theend of February. The San Diego City Council will vote sometime inApril. If the ban is voted into law, then it should become effectiveby Memorial Day, just in time for summer.

–Kim Jones is a public relations senior. Send e-mail to daletter2000@hotmail.com.

–This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec.