When Capt. Chris Ball of the San Diego Police Department’s Northern Division patrols Kate Sessions Park, he sees people enjoying the beautiful surroundings and having fun with friends and family members. When Michelle Youngers, a founding member of Friends of Kate Sessions Park, visits the same area, which is adjacent to her house, she witnesses a different scene: “boozed-up rowdies” who urinate in public and disrupt area families. The discrepancy between these two perspectives is at the heart of a debate over whether to extend the park’s current 12-hour alcohol ban, which is in place from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every day, to a 24-hour ban that would eliminate all alcohol consumption within the 79-acre facility. The ban, which was first proposed by Friends of Kate Sessions Park to the Santa Clara/Pacific Beach Recreation Council in January, has sparked passionate pleas on both sides and prompted an investigation by city staff into the broader impact that a ban could have on other city parks. Opponents say a 24-hour ban is too extreme for a public property that everyone has the right to enjoy. “As a neighbor, I can see both sides of the story,” said resident Chris Winkle. “I’m impacted by the increased noise that is caused by increased usage at the park, and I’m impacted by the increased traffic and by the generally larger number of people that are around here on the weekends. On the other hand, I recognize that it’s a public park, it’s not anyone’s private property. So while I can see people wanting to cause restrictions to control what goes on there, I don’t think its fair just to try to impose a 24-hour ban as a solution to the problems. I think it’s an overreaction.” Youngers favors the ban because of the rude behavior she and her neighbors have experienced that make it difficult for everyone to enjoy the park, she said. “It is not a few people who are coming as a group and sitting on the hillside and enjoying a beer,” she said. “We all would enjoy doing that. But this is binge drinking, and it really leads to lewd behavior, loud behavior, cussing. I have neighbors who have talked to me and said that they’ve had to actually leave the park with their children because they didn’t want them exposed to this.” Ball frequently patrols the area and said that, in his experience, the vast majority of people at the park behave themselves, even when they are drinking. “What you will see on the weekends, especially in the summer months when it gets warm, you see more of the college-age kids using the park … But I’ve got to say this, my experience with them, understanding that I am a cop in a uniform, is that most of them are bright, intelligent, respectful folks that are just up for having a good time. They do not go up there with the intention of offending anyone. They do not go up there with the intention of breaking the law.” Ball said problems like noise and public urination could be mitigated through less-stringent means, including prohibiting kegs, installing more public restrooms and banning alcohol on holidays when the park becomes a popular destination for large groups. But Youngers contends that similar solutions presented so far will not solve the real problem. “From the opponents, we have not received any input on a reasonable compromise,” Youngers said. “There is nothing that is being suggested that would really eliminate the problem. Eliminate the alcohol, you eliminate the problem.” To date, Youngers and other members of Friends of Kate Sessions Park have helped drum up support from six community groups that have voted to support the 24-hour ban. However, their appeal lost momentum at the May 20 Park and Recreation Department meeting, when board members decided not to recommend a ban. Instead, they asked city staff to work with community members on both sides to mediate the issue, according to draft minutes of the meeting. The results of that meeting have sparked a broader discussion by city staff, who want to be sure that implementing a 24-hour ban at the park won’t yield unintended consequences in other areas of the city, much like the beach booze ban in 2008 resulted in the current overflow at Kate Sessions, said Clay Bingham, deputy director of the Community Parks I Division. The Park and Recreation Department is still open to forming a community group to explore compromises, he said, but not until city staffers have had a chance to evaluate the issue more closely. MORE INFO: The city of San Diego is the only entity authorized to institute a 24-hour alcohol ban at Kate Sessions Park, but six community groups have voted to support the ban: • The Pacific Beach Planning Group (11-2) • Santa Clara/Pacific Beach Recreation Council (4-0) • The Parks and Beaches Committee of the La Jolla Town Council (7-0) • The La Jolla Town Council (13-0) • La Jolla Parks and Recreation Inc. (10-0) • The Community Parks I Division Area Committee (10-0) — According to the city’s Park and Recreation Department In 2009, officers fielded 84 calls for service about the park, which resulted in eight citations, including violations regarding loose animals and glass containers, and four arrests (none of which were alcohol related), police Capt. Chris Ball said. Year-to-date, there have been no arrests and two citations. Ball said that compared to other areas of the city that receive dozens of calls per day, Kate Sessions is not a major source of concern for police. TO LEARN MORE: A Facebook fan page called “Save Kate Sessions Park, Pacific Beach from ANOTHER unnecessary BOOZE BAN!” had more than 2,100 fans when this issue went to print.