Ban the Ban organizers plopped down four boxes full of signatures at City Clerk’s office on the day of the petition deadline, Friday, Jan. 4, to effectively halt the one-year beach-alcohol ban.
The group threw a “last call” party Jan. 3 in the sand at the foot of Reed Street to collect the final signatures while celebrating what could have been the last day to have a beer in the sand.
The total number of signatures collected was 45,490, which will temporarily suspend the ban while the County Registrar of Voters verifies the count. The process can take up to 30 days, according to Denise Jenkins, elections analyst with the San Diego City Clerk’s Office.
The registrar must confirm 30,209 valid signatures to send the ordinance back to City Council.
If enough signatures are confirmed, the council must either rescind the ordinance or place it on a ballot for voters to decide later this year, Jenkins said.
If the signatures are valid, a vote could take place as soon as June, District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer said.
“We’ll have to see when the count is completed, but I think people are looking for resolution on this sooner rather than later,” he said.
Faulconer spearheaded the ban in a 5 -2 City Council vote Nov. 5. He originally asked for a permanent beach-alcohol ban following a televised melee on Labor Day that ended when San Diego police officers in riot gear cleared the beach.
After Mayor Jerry Sanders threatened to veto a permanent ban, the council members voted on a compromise ” a one-year temporary ban that would have forced the council to revisit the ordinance after it expired.
Scott Chipman, a 33-year Pacific Beach resident, said unregulated binge drinking on the beach can lead to dangerous underage drinking.
“There are beer bongs, alcohol luges and binge drinking games, especially during the summer months,” he said, “When [minors] go the beach, they get educated on these alcohol games that are completely inappropriate in public.”
He said that police officers shouldn’t have to baby-sit drunks in response to calls for alcohol-related crime when the city really needs them in other areas.
Chipman also said he thinks San Diego voters are ready to vote for alcohol-free beaches and the one-year trial should start as soon as possible.
Chipman sat on the Beach Alcohol Task Force, which Faulconer started last year in an effort to find solutions to alcohol-related problems in the beach communities.
While the task force was divided on the issue of drinking at the beach, the group did make other recommendations, such as providing more restrooms and trashcans to deal with issues such as public urination and litter.
Jacob Pyle, an organizer with Ban the Ban 3 and member of Freepb.org, said solutions addressing alcohol-related problems, such as more restrooms and increased law enforcement near the beach, would have solved many of the problems without having to put the issue back on the ballot.
The time-consuming process is a further drain on city resources, he said.
“It’s pretty clear from past votes and public sentiment that the people of San Diego don’t support this legislation,” Pyle said. ” If it does go for a public vote, that’s democracy “¦ but we think it’s just going to be another waste of city money to do that.”
Responsible drinking on the beach has always been a right of the community, and the irresponsible actions of a few should not cause the rights of the many to be stripped away, he added.
The city last voted on a beach alcohol ban in November 2002, when city voters stopped Proposition G by a slim margin. The ordinance would have created alcohol-free zones along the beach.
For more information on issues related to alcohol at the beach, visit www.safebeaches.org, or visit www.bantheban3.org. To contact Faulconer, call (619) 236-6622.