A proposal by Discover PB to fence-in Pacific Beachfest next year to expand areas for alcohol consumption has met resistance.<\/p>\n
The change is being proposed for the 2024 annual October community event by Pacific Beach\u2019s nonprofit business improvement district. Discover PB has suggested enclosing five blocks within the event\u2019s boundaries to boost attendance while allowing parents the opportunity to enjoy an adult beverage.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s program for Pacific BeachFest on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. along the boardwalk from Felspar Street to Thomas Avenue, will remain unchanged from past years. The free family-friendly festival features live music, action sports on the sand, a food-eating contest, and shopping,<\/p>\n
noted Sunny Lee, Discover PB\u2019s executive director. Lee added that Discover PB is only \u201cexploring this option,\u201d expanding alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was unsure we would even be able to do it,\u201d Lee said. \u201cPeople started to grow concerned before we knew if we could even be able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee stressed any changes for Pacific Beachfest need to be reviewed and approved by Discover PB\u2019s board and committees, as well as ultimately being approved by the California Coastal Commission. After meeting with the City\u2019s special events and park and rec departments, as well as San Diego Police, Lee noted, \u201cIt is really not in the cards for us this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerning proposed event changes, Lee said: \u201cThe whole reason we want to move forward with this is because we\u2019re seeing the dynamics of the community changing. A lot of families come to Beachfest, not just people who want to party and drink in our beer garden.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting the event is overcoming challenges presented by the recent pandemic and declining attendance, Lee added: \u201cWe want an environment where parents don\u2019t have to swap positions to watch the kids when they want to go and have a drink, just like they do at a day at the zoo or SeaWorld. We just want a comfortable place for everybody to have a day out on the boardwalk.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some PB residents are seeing the issue differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cA 5K Fun Run and activities on the sand were important parts of connecting PB residents and visitors with our finest resource. Walling off the view of that oceanfront with fencing would be completely defeating the reason for the event,\u201d argued longtime PB community planner Eve Anderson, who served on Discover PB\u2019s board in 1997 when she said BeachFest was created as \u201cthe anti-block party, specifically selecting our wonderful oceanfront for the event.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number one concern about the proposal is we don\u2019t need any more alcohol; it\u2019s illegal on the boardwalk and the beach,\u201d said Claudia Allen, co-owner of Crystal Pier Hotel. \u201cNo special event should be offering it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen added PB is striving hard to promote itself as a \u201cfamily-friendly town. We have to fight hard every day to keep it family-friendly, and we also want to preserve the natural beauty of the boardwalk, which is one of the most beautiful places in this whole city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen many people in our Neighborhood Watches found out about their (DPB) plan they opposed it immediately,\u201d said Marcella Teran who coordinates the program in PB. \u201cIf\u00a0parents are drinking alcohol and driving their children home from this event, we are encouraging drinking and driving with children on board. Also, if the parents need to drink, there are many bars on Garnet to drink. Having another venue that allows alcohol only adds to the negative reputation of PB. We are\u00a0already over-concentrated with establishments that sell alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHistory has proven with stats to back that up, that in prior years expanding an open public beer bar across a wide swath was extremely detrimental to local businesses and full-time residents,\u201d said resident Gary Morefield. \u201cCitizen altercations increased greatly creating a nightmare for SDPD, kept families with children away from enjoying the beach, and left trash and debris strewn across the coastal boardwalk for City employees to clean up. The cost to the City was enormous. I trust we can learn from history and not pay the price for having to repeat it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been volunteering at BeachFest since 2006, coordinating the Community Stage and the booths for PB schools and community groups,\u201d said resident Marcie Beckett.\u00a0\u201cMy goal has always been to keep BeachFest a community-focused, positive, fun, family-friendly event that showcases the best in PB and reflects positively on our community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposal to fence the entire venue and allow drinking throughout would change the focus of BeachFest to drinking.\u00a0And instead of BeachFest showcasing the best in our community, it would showcase the worst.\u00a0It would cause schools, families, community groups, and many residents to stop supporting and attending the event. It would destroy BeachFest as we know and love it.\u00a0And I would be very sad to see that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo by Steve Sidell<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A proposal by Discover PB to fence-in Pacific Beachfest next year to expand areas for alcohol consumption has met resistance. The change is being proposed for the 2024 annual October community event by Pacific Beach\u2019s nonprofit business improvement district. Discover PB has suggested enclosing five blocks within the event\u2019s boundaries to boost attendance while allowing […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":840,"featured_media":324289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"A proposal by Discover PB to fence-in Pacific Beachfest next year to expand areas for alcohol consumption has met resistance.","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"3","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15402,15409,15489,15494],"tags":[13338,12543,15968,12375],"class_list":["post-324286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press-arts-entertainment","category-beach-bay-press-top-stories","category-sdnews-arts-entertainment","category-sdnews-news","tag-discover-pb","tag-pacific-beach","tag-pacific-beachfest","tag-san-diego"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":324290,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324286\/revisions\/324290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}