Revelry moves into neighborhoods I fell on the floor laughing at the recent letter extolling the “beach booze ban” and its purported “family-friendly” effect on the Pacific Beach community. Ha! Yes, the beaches now have prohibition.  But human nature being what it is, and the young being young, did anybody consider for one minute the fallout on the rest of the community from the beach alcohol ban? 1. The housing downturn has provided an ideal opportunity for greedy homeowners/absentee landlords to rent their houses by the week (or weekend!) to large groups of kids as PB party houses. Now we hear screaming, yelling and loud noises late into the night throughout the beach area, far into North PB. What used to be restricted to the beach area is now a community -wide problem. 2. Kate Sessions Park, in north PB, has been “discovered.” It is no longer the place for a picnic, a walk or sunbathing on a blanket. Now every Saturday people are “roping off” areas with police tape and “reserving” their areas early in the day for stand-up cocktail parties with amplified music. Thirty or so “friends” show up and bring the beach with them to Kate Sessions. This is in addition to the myriad corporate picnics permitted by the Park and Recreation Department and the occasional wedding or memorial service. Casual users must go to the far slope to find a space not permitted for corporate events or part of party central. I don’t know if Park and Recreation is providing permits for these beach parties at Kate Sessions, but the peace and quiet of the North PB area has been decimated by house parties and beach parties at the park.  So don’t go around tooting the beach alcohol ban horn. The problems have moved inland. Those of us who were intelligent enough to buy homes away from the beach because of the crowding and noise are now suffering the consequences of planning by initiative, instead of planning by study and thoughtfully written ordinances. Christian F Winkle Pacific Beach Alcohol ban hurts our streets Here we go again! So called “town council” members and other would-be government agencies calling the beach alcohol ban an outstanding success. Did these people ever take a college course that wasn’t a humanities class? They laud statements like “amount of trash and number of arrests and rescues were down,” and consider it a sweeping success. Any statistician will tell you that the numbers they are looking at wouldn’t pass a single confidence test. In lay-terms that means they aren’t significant. I wonder if any of these “officials” went to Kate Sessions Park this year? Better yet, I wonder if they went to the park the next morning to see the aftermath? Broken tents, barbecues, clothes, trash and, yes, alcohol bottles and cans. And I wonder who was cleaning that mess up? I didn’t see Surfrider or Coastkeeper there in the morning. There was one city worker there from 4 a.m. and I bet he wasn’t happy to see the work in front of him. As our hard working council members pat themselves on the back and congratulate each other for keeping the beaches “family friendly,” the drunken revelers have simply moved to other nearby areas and come up with better ways to hide their alcohol. I wonder if those council members took part in the multitude of house parties on Law Street. Or maybe they were out the next morning picking up trash, not at the beach, but on the streets just three or four blocks inland from the sand? What’s that you say? You mean the “beach community” includes more than sand and shops? People actually live there? Yes, well done council members on declaring “victory” and silencing the evil “pro-alcohol chanters.” Your ignorance is bliss. Jason Haelewyn Pacific Beach Kate Sessions Bar and Grill On July 4th, Kate Sessions Park on Mount Soledad in Pacific Beach was the center of the Independence Day celebration by an estimated 3,000 people, many from long distances, including Orange County. While our Pacific Beach area was peaceful and calm due to the alcohol ban, Kate Sessions became Kate Sessions Bar and Grill where alcohol is permitted between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. It was chaotic, and our Northern Division of the San Diego Police Department was present throughout the day. At 8 p.m., a San Diego police helicopter flew by and the loudspeaker announced that no drinking was now in effect. Some male revelers preferred the bushes to the over-crowded men’s room facilities – lines for women’s facilities numbered up to 50 to 60 all day long. Red plastic cups covered the ground and overflowed garbage containers. There were dogs running without leashes. Kate Sessions Park was created to be a family-oriented community park. Following July 4th many groups have held events and picnics, including a prominent insurance company. One organizer said they were there as drinking was allowed. There have been birthdays and wedding events since and also a ski club and the Red Hat ladies. On Sunday, July 12th, the PB Town Council hosted a family fun day with music, kids activities and a group of Polynesian dancers. And no liquor was present. People can enjoy this beautiful park and do it without the alcohol. We are concerned about under-age drinking as well. Let us also remember the Alcoholics Anonymous group meets regularly on Sundays at Kate Sessions Park. We feel Kate Sessions Park should be included “with our beaches” in the alcohol ban and remain Kate Sessions community park and not Kate Sessions Bar and Grill Park. P.S. Somehow they tapped into the utility building to gain access to the water line to create a waterfall down the hill – to be used as a water slide! The fireworks were synchronized in six locations and were spectacular, followed by SeaWorld’s famous display! Mary Christian-Heising Pacific Beach