The group opposed to the new ban on alcohol at Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach and Mission Bay said Friday, Jan. 18, that they will not put up the initial $70,000 needed to complete a full count of the signatures gathered last month in an effort to stave off the ban. The count could have cost as much as approximately $147,000 in labor costs, city officials said.
The 24-hour ban on alcohol went into effect Monday, Jan. 14, after City Clerk Elizabeth Maland announced that the group did not have enough valid signatures to stop the ban.
The group opposed to the alcohol ban, Ban the Ban 3 ” comprising of organizers, volunteer and paid signature gatherers ” turned in 45,557 signatures to the city clerk’s office Friday, Jan. 4. Through a sample analysis, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters found that the group did not have the 30,209 valid signatures needed to potentially put it on a ballot.
“The outcome may be technically correct but that doesn’t diminish the fact that thousands upon thousands of San Diegans signed to oppose this law,” said Jacob Pyle, organizer and spokesperson for Ban the Ban 3, at a press conference Friday, Jan. 18, at Crown Pointe Shores.
Pyle said the signature drive did not succeed because a vast majority of those who signed petition were not registered to vote at their current address or lived outside city limits.
With a one-year ban now in place, Pyle said the group would watch crime statistics to monitor the effects of alcohol-free beaches. He said if those in favor of the ban are correct, the beach communities should see a “significant and dramatic” reduction in crime.
Scott Chipman, a member of Safebeaches.org, said he expects to see just that and more as a result of the ordinance.
“The optimum result is for people in the city to feel more comfortable coming to the beach, bringing their families and not see [drinking] games or an alcohol scene,” he said.
Chipman said he expects many of the problems caused by binge drinking at the beach to go away. He said he expects fewer calls for police service at the beach and fewer incidences of underage drinking.
He added that the failure of the petition drive is evidence that San Diego residents support an alcohol-free beach policy.
With the ban in place and warning stickers already up in some communities with signs on the way, police said they would use discretion during the next 30 days to educate and warn people about the law.
Though they have the ability to issue $250 citations on a first offense, Assistant Chief Boyd Long said officers would warn and educate potential rule-breakers until Feb. 15, when police would firmly enforce the law. Until then, he said, officers would use discretion unless the beach rule-breakers continue to knowingly disobey the law. Repeat offenders could face a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.
“When [officers] do a good job, they normally get an 85 percent compliance rate,” Long said. “Then there’s only a small percentage of people trying to get away with it.”
Long said he doesn’t anticipate more calls for service throughout the year. He also said that although difficult to measure, some crime such as underage drinking should decrease.
In 2007, police documented 650 incidents of minors in possession of alcohol at Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and Mission Bay Park. That’s less than in 2006 when 815 incidents were reported in those areas, he said.
Long said an obvious but more direct effect would be a reduction in the number of people who came to the beach specifically to drink alcohol.
The city council passed the legislation by a vote of 5-2 on Nov. 5, partly as a result of a Labor Day fight on the beach. Mayor Jerry Sanders signed the ordinance into law Dec. 5, 2007.
For more information on beach alcohol-related issues, visit www.safebeaches.org. For more information on Ban the Ban 3, visit www.bantheban3.org. To contact District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer, call (619) 236-6622.