Alcohol Sales in the Park

Everybody has been having lots of fun with the saggy pants issue from last week, so the suggestion I also reported that one of my constituents thought that we should install beer taps on the new playground equipment has been mercifully ignored.  Thank Goodness.

A frequently heard refrain is that we need alcohol sales in the park in order to attract people to the events.  This is patently untrue.  We had hundreds of people show up for a family movie last night in Sims Park.  Last night was not unique.  Hundreds of people have been showing up each month for the family movies.  Likewise, other events, like the Rap River Run, have attracted thousands of people to the park without a beer in sight.

While it can not be said that beer sales increase the number of people to come to special events in the park, it CAN be said that a significant number of our residents will AVOID the park when the the beer is flowing.

This coming weekend, Greater New Port Richey Main Street will have its FOURTH special event with alcohol.  You might be saying to yourself:  “Doesn’t the state limit non-profit alcohol permits to just three a year?”  You would be correct.  Main Street has evaded the clear meaning of the state rule by having their subsidiary, the Art Gallery, pull the permit.  It MAY be legal, but it isn’t right.  I voted against allowing beer sales at the event because it violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the law.

The city is allowing this, in large measure because of the city attorney’s misinterpretation of the city’s alcohol ordinance that nominally limits the total number of such events to eight, essentially saying that any group claiming to promote the city could have an unlimited number of alcohol events without violating the city’s ordinance.  You read that right.  Under the current misinterpretation of the ordinance, we could have beer sales every single weekend in Sims Park.  I can’t say as I blame Greater New Port Richey Main Street for driving their beer trucks straight through the hole that has been opened up in the ordinance.

The Chamber of Commerce is coming before council this week for the approval of the NINTH of eight allowable permits, with a staff recommendation for approval, based on the same tortured logic offered by the city attorney.  At least they haven’t already used their three permits this year.

I humbly submit that the current alcoholic beverage ordinance is completely and irreparably broken and needs to be rewritten from scratch.

A little background is in order.  At one time, alcoholic beverage special events were only allowed in Cavalier Square, probably the most underutilized park in the city.

Several years ago, as the Great Recession took hold, the council approved the issuance of up to eight permits, including in Sims Park.  The logic was that alcoholic beverage sales would help the non-profits make up for the loss of subsidies that the city could no longer provide.

We were told that we could attract classy “wine and cheese” type of artsy events to Sims Park.   The reality has been quite different.  What we have gotten instead are beer trucks.

So if beer sales in the park aren’t really necessary to attract a crowd, why do we have so many event organizers wanting permits to sell beer in the park?  As Al Capone and other gangsters of the 1920’s learned, there is money in selling booze and the special event organizers have been sopping up the profits ever since we allowed them to open up the tap in Sims Park.

We have a number of places downtown that you can buy an alcoholic beverage if you get thirsty.  There is a good argument to be made that we should amend the current city ordinance to allow them to throw street parties on Railroad Square on a regular basis.  I’m not opposed to that.  A regular “first Friday” type of street party would be a perfect use for Railroad Square.

I believe that folks wanting to have a beer are going to buy one somewhere.  Money spent at a beer truck is money that isn’t spent in one of our downtown watering holes.  It is reasonable to conclude that selling beer in direct competition with those establishments is actually HURTING downtown businesses.   Some of the events have spotted beer trucks NEXT DOOR to one of the downtown bars!

I can think of one or two current events where beer trucks in Sims Park make sense.  Chasco’s country music concert comes immediately to mind.  What is more All American than listening to country music with a Budweiser in you hand?  The adult oriented Bike Fest would be another.

Rocktemberfest is currently being advertised on the radio as a great family event with beer.  Perhaps my constituent is right and we SHOULD consider installing beer taps on the new playground equipment so the whole family can enjoy a few drinks while playing in the park.  Then again, perhaps not.

The alcohol ordinance is coming back to council for review in a few weeks (on October 7th).  I can tell you where I stand right now:

• We should open up Railroad Square for regular street parties, with all alcohol sales restricted to the bars adjacent to Railroad Square.  Unlike volunteers working a beer truck, the bar staff have experience in telling when to cut somebody off.   Monthly events wouldn’t be unreasonable.
• We should SEVERELY restrict the sale of beer in Sims Park, perhaps limiting it to once or twice a year. (eg. the Chasco country music concert).
• We should remove the part of the ordinance that exempts non-profits promoting the city from the limitation regarding the number of events.  If we limit sales to once a year, then once should mean exactly that:  once.

It is a shame that the current ordinance has been so badly misinterpreted and abused.

If we cut off the booze spigot, how will Greater New Port Richey Main Street survive?   I’ll save that discussion for next week.

Rob Marlowe, Mayor