On again. Off again. On again. After fighting off a beach alcohol ban for about a week, it seems that the city’s torrid love affair with legal alcohol on the beach has come to an end ” at least for one year.
Organizers rallying against the impending ban received some bad news when the city clerk reported to city officials that organizers didn’t gather enough valid signatures to stop the ban or have it placed on a ballot later this year.
Based on a sample analysis, the 45,557 signatures organizers with Ban the Ban 3 gathered over the last month did not yield the 30,209 needed to stop the ordinance, San Diego City Clerk Liz Maland said at a news conference Tuesday at City Hall.
At the conference, City Attorney Mike Aguirre said the ban remains in effect regardless of whether the anti-ban organizers pay the estimated $70,000 to $147,000 in labor costs to count each signature. They have until Friday, Jan. 18 to challenge the determination, he said.
Unless the city clerk reverses her determination, the law is clear, Aguirre said at the conference: “If you drink on the beach, you’re going to be fined.”
Violators can be fined a maximum $250 for a first offense, officials said. Minors in possession of alcohol can be fined up to $500, according to a California law that took effect Jan. 1. Repeat offenders would be fined $1,000 and could see up to six months in jail. The ordinance, signed into law by Mayor Jerry Sanders on Dec. 5, outlaws alcohol on all city beaches, including Pacific, Mission and Ocean beaches and at Mission Bay, with a few exceptions throughout the city, Aguirre said.
Organizers on both sides are already thinking about their next moves.
“We have substantial financial commitments for the campaign portion of this initiative and want to weigh if cashing those in will be in our best interest,” Ban the Ban 3 organizers said in an e-mail statement. “This issue is something that will continue to be discussed for quite some time, so this is by far not the end of it.”
While anti-ban organizers decide whether they want to challenge the count, others see the city clerk’s determination as a victory for everybody in San Diego, said Jerry Hall, a 17-year Pacific Beach resident.
“This is a one-year trial,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world [but] it helps us look at a few things.”
Hall, who has worked with pro-ban group Safebeaches.org, said the ban would result in a drop in alcohol-related crime rates. Quality of life problems, such as urinating in public, fighting and harassment, would go away, he said.
Jeremy Malecha, director of Freepb.org, said it’s unfortunate the issue didn’t get to the ballot to give San Diegans a chance to vote on a ban once and for all. If alcohol on the beach contributes to crime as much as pro-ban advocates have said, then the ban should result in a dramatic reduction in alcohol-related crime, including DUI rates and public drunkenness, he said.
Malecha also said District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer has shown “zero leadership” on the issue.
Faulconer initiated the ban after a Labor Day fight in Pacific Beach involving several hundred people resulted in San Diego police donning full riot gear to quell the crowd. After the incident, Faulconer pushed the legislation through council and voted among the five in favor of the ban.
Faulconer said the City Council will focus on information from police and lifeguards to determine how the ban would work in the coming year.
“From an overall perspective, keeping “¦ a close eye on the safety issues of our beaches, that is the overriding objective,” he said.
The City Council will revisit the issue in about a year.