What a difference a year makes! After just six months of a total beach alcohol ban, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach are demonstrating positive, constructive change. The just-past Fourth of July holiday weekend was remarkably peaceful and showed that San Diegans and out-of-town visitors can enjoy a safe and sane holiday even with beach alcohol restrictions.
Families have returned to the beach, many for the first time on the Fourth of July. Children now romp in the sand, build sandcastles, dig moats and search for sea creatures. Mixed-age groups are laughing over picnics and barbecues. Bikini-clad women and girls can sunbathe peacefully, without constant expectation of groping or lewd remarks. Adults, teens, and children are playing traditional sand-games, including horseshoes, Whiffle Ball, bocce ball and beach volleyball, refreshing themselves with chilled water and sodas rather than free-flowing beer.
The atmosphere now is friendly and relaxed, more like a traditionally laid-back Southern California beach town.
Civility has returned to the boardwalk, where walkers, bicyclists, Rollerbladers and skateboarders no longer have to fear jostling and intimidation from aggressive binge-drinkers tanked up on cheap beer. People again feel safe going to the beach.
The mood in the beach communities was starkly different this year and clearly demonstrates Councilman Kevin Faulconer and the City Council’s wisdom in enacting a one-year trial alcohol ban. This long holiday weekend in the recent past would have aroused dread among many beach dwellers worried about potential damage to their homes and uninvited visits from rowdy beachgoers demanding immediate toilet access.
Gone was the normal tension filling the air the night before the holiday weekend’s start. Gone was the usual pre-holiday midnight screaming from drunks revving up for a long beer-filled day.
Once the day dawned this year’s Fourth of July was unexpectedly quiet. The pre-6 a.m. shrieking music which in past years woke everyone on Sail Bay was missing. Also missing but not missed from the beach this Fourth of July weekend were:
“¢ Beer bongs, ice luges and other drinking games
“¢ Underage drinking
“¢ Binge-drinking
“¢ Staggering drunks spewing profanities
“¢ Overflowing and overturned Port-a-Potties
“¢ Non-permitted amplified music (still at some house parties, though police shut down many noisy parties)
“¢ Discarded beer cans, cardboard boxes, uneaten food, broken chairs, abandoned tents, forgotten clothing and other debris left on the beach
“¢ Lewd and abusive behavior, public urination, public sex acts
“¢ Alcohol-fueled arguments, fights, stabbings and assaults
“¢ Illegal fireworks shot from the beach and dangerously aimed at boats or beachfront homes
“¢ People passed out on the beach and in the neighborhoods the next morning, unable to find their cars or their way home.
We can all say good riddance to all these behaviors characteristic of uncontrolled drunks as well as to the trash-strewn beaches of previous years. Sober beach-goers apparently pick up after themselves, using trash and recycling bins provided. Little was left for beach cleanup volunteers to gather the following morning.
Crowds at the beach were definitely down, but foggy weather, high gas prices and a struggling economy undoubtedly played as much or more of a role as the beach alcohol ban. Families with children replaced many of those who in previous years came only to drink as much as they could.
Those who didn’t come to the beach because of the alcohol ban demonstrated clearly that they came only to drink, not to enjoy the beach. Those who came to the beach this year appeared to enjoy the sun, water and sand and the camaraderie of friends and family, based on their exuberant smiles and laughter.
Lifeguards report that this year, with alcohol off the beaches, they’re able to return their attention to saving lives on the water, while the police note more than a 60 percent drop in arrests and citations over last year’s alcohol-saturated crowd. With their resources no longer focused primarily on babysitting drunks and breaking up alcohol-fueled fights, our public safety officers are better able to do the jobs they were hired to do.
As word spreads that San Diego city beaches are again safe, friendly and welcoming, crowds will return, just as they did in Fort Lauderdale. Once that south Florida beach city banned alcohol from its beaches, tourism grew from 3 million to 10 million visitors a year, just as their business mix improved and revenue grew. Many tourism-dependent PB businesses are already reporting that business is up and their guests are happy with the improved beach environment.
San Diego, we’re on the right track in ensuring our beaches are clean, safe and enjoyable for everyone. Let’s maintain our progress and make the beach alcohol ban permanent.