BEACH ALCOHOL TASK FORCE

Meeting Minutes for 10/30/06

Contact: Allison Stanley;

HYPERLINK "mailto:astanley@sandiego.gov"

astanley@sandiego.gov

, (619) 236-6622

Members Present:

Mark Antis, Todd Brown, Scott Chipman, Jean Froning, Clyde Fuller, Nancie Geller, Carol Janks, Katie Keach, Julie Klein, Jeremy Malecha, Dave Martin, Dirk Stump (seated in the rear).

Chair:

Councilmember Kevin Faulconer

Meeting called to order by Councilmember Kevin Faulconer (C-M) at 6:34 p.m.

Introductory comments by C-M:

Beach Alcohol Task Force (BATF) meetings open to the public, opportunities for public comment

Issue of alcohol and impacts on community been around for decades. Been on the ballot before, and that particular effort failed. But it is still an issue that people care deeply about it.

BATF Goals: take this issue out of the ballot syndrome; have this diverse group of beach community residents/business owners that meet for 6-9 mths. have focused discussions. Respectful dialogue is time well spent because there is no unanimity of the issue.

Format for the evening: Roundtable discussion tonight, setting the table for future discussions, including setting future agendas.

Government Staff Present: Lt. Brian Ahearn with SDPD, Lt. Herbert and Lt. Kendrick with the SDPDís VICE unit. Matt Heider with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Makinni Hammond and Teresa Martin of the City Attorneyís Office.

BATF membership: cast wide-net for the members; selected representatives from OB, MB, and PB who have different views of the issues. May add additional members in the future, but this will be the core group.

Member Introductions

Mark Antis, MB resident for 19 years. Owns mortgage company in Kearny Mesa, formerly a business owner in MB in the mid to late 90ís; hosts volleyball fundraising tourneys; stated that he loves the community and is enthusiastic to be involved.

Todd Brown: Member of the Pacific Beach Business Improvement District, Discover PB. Chair of the Hospitality Task Force, subsection of the BID. Owner of Bubís Dive Bar and Grill in PB. Hosting and Chairing 2006 PB holiday parade this. Wants to learn about issues in community.

Julie Klein: OB resident and surf team coach, VP of OBMA, started a Crime Prevention Committee in OB two years ago, Sunset Cliffs Surfing Assoc.

Jean Froning: South Mission Beach resident for 40 years; owns various rental properties; MB Precise Planning Board member, MBTC member. Involved in Prop. G. Recognized that the last attempt to ban alcohol was a piecemeal and flawed effort, excited about this new open-minded forum

Nancie Geller: South Mission Beach resident for over 30 years; MBTC President for the past 3 yrs.; Also noted that the MBTC recently voted to ban alcohol b/c of increase in crime.

Clyde Fuller: Longtime PB resident; has been involved with Discover PB; Beachfest Organizer; stated he is open-mind to the discussion.

Katie Keach: PB resident, PBTC Board of Director; previously represented the Pacific Beach community for five years in her capacity as a representative for Congresswoman Susan Davis and former Councilmember Zucchet. Stated that she has heard many piecemeal ideas over the years on how to address the alcohol problem and is eager for this comprehensive approach to the issue

Jeremy Malecha: PB Homeowner and Executive Director of FreePB.org; also enthusiastic for this dialogue.

Carol Janks: PB business owner, Zanzibar cafÈ, for 16 years; Co-Chair of the Committee to help create a Business Improvement District in PB, now Discover PB.

Dave Martin: OB resident; OBTC Bd. of Director; has been involved with the OB community for 12 years. Interested in working on problems affecting all beach communities

Scott Chipman: PB resident for 33 years; has spent 24 of those years involved with the local school systems. Board member of SavePB.org, a local organization with 500 members, whose number one concern is alcohol abuse.

Bill Bradshaw: Absent but he sent a letter in his place; Longtime MB resident; thinks that the focus should be on crime, address drunk driving, and underage drinking. Bill would suggest that any suggestions/proposals that come from the committee be within the power and purview of the City of SD.

Mike Meyer was absent

Dirk Stump was present but seated in the rear

Public Comment

Ed S.: need more cops on Hornblend/Garnet, and make more of an effort to control activities at bar break (12-2 a.m.)

Rick Oldham: PB resident for 24 years and PBTC member. Commented that other San Diego County communities have already banned drinking on beach, but our beach communities still see the problems associated with it such as drunk drivers, binge drinking, beer bongs, because everyone comes to our beaches to drink.

Greg Zukowski: SD bicycle coalition; USD employee. Commented that he is tired of crime in all beach communities and wants us to do something

Nicole Larson: Interim Sail Bay Assoc. President. Commented that those living at the beach are affected by alcohol because of drinking on the beach, alcohol licenses, and DUIís; She wants to see a new way of controlling alcohol licenses, especially with license transfers.

Marcie Beckett: Lifelong PB resident (passed out handout to BATF members). Stated that there were 535 DUI arrests in PB during 2005; concerned about her children. Also stated that the 2004 PB Census Tract reflects that the crime rate was 3000% above the citywide crime rate; MB was 4000% over. Wants measures to fix this problem.

Frank McCoy (sp?): concerned about the violence and crime due to drinking on the beach.

Eve Anderson: 33 yr. resident and past PBTC president; Asked each BATF member to report whether the group they represented has voted on whether to ban alcohol on the beach, and if so, what the most recent vote was. She also commented that drinking on the beach was not a problem until about 10 years ago.

Jordan Levin: Moved to PB 10 yrs. ago; concerned about loud parties in his neighborhood that keeps his family awake. Interested in resources available to residents to deal with such situations.

Mike Stevens: asked what BATF members represented homeowners only because most were also affiliated with a community organization.

Jack Bart: stated that he agreed with what everyone had already said. He asked that the BATF look at the issues from a community perspective; he is concerned that the communities attract the wrong crowd because of the party image.

Andy Chotiner: Stated that the community has been discussing this issue for years and that the 6-9 month timeline provided is much too long.

Nanci Dazell: Member of the Sail Bay Association; she stated that she wanted the Sail Bay Assoc. to be represented on the BATF. She also commented that the community should stop personally attacking one another in the Beach and Bay Press.

Rosalee Demaree: She asked that the BATF focus on ABC issue. She has protested every new license and almost every single license has been issued by the ABC. She is concerned with off-sale establishments and not just the bars.

Al Strohlein: He remarked that he has lost every protest filed against ABC licenses; and asked that the BATF address enforcement at all levels. He thinks the community should look to the local universities and military for assistance because the students and military personnel produce most of the problems.

Joe Wylie: Longtime PB resident. Thinks that the community is better off with fewer people drinking at the beach community. Part of the problem is that the property owners do not take responsibly for their tenants who leave beer bottles and cups.

Donna Byscheiwitz: PB resident for 15 yrs. She stated that alcohol is a problem in some shape or form. There are more people now in the beach communities that contribute to the problem and it is spiraling out of control; she has an issue with loud house parties

Mr. Blicker: He thinks that 6-9 months for the BATF is too long because this issue has been re-hashed for years. Remarked that the previous alcohol ban attempt was defeated because the alcohol industry spent tons of money

Marcella Teran: She has lived in PB for 20 yrs. She commented that we need more police and she would like the BATF to recommend additional police to protect our neighborhoods.

C-M Comments

Thanked everybody from the public for their comments, and the respectful tone they used; commented that it is important to have this type of open discussion without yelling back and forth at one another.

BATF will continue to have public comment at the beginning of the meetings. Stated again that this first meeting is an organizational night to look at topics we want to cover.

Responded to the comments made about the 6-9 month time period being too lengthy by saying that he choose that timeline to allow for enough time without letting this linger on for too long. He does not want to rush the discussion and not come out with any real productive outcomes, but if the BATF concludes earlier than that timeframe than that is fine as well.

Stated that he is looking for a wide-range of topics to be discussed, including: licensing issues and the ABC (which the BATF will take up at the next meeting); issue of crime and enforcement as it pertains to alcohol, and we will have the SDPD present on that topic; Issue of code enforcement/CAPP program, C-M stated that he agrees nobody should be awoken at night by house parties; parking enforcement; issue of alcohol on beach, including looking at what the other cities throughout CA and within SD County have done, the spectrum of option.

Roundtable Discussion

Scott C.:

Stated that he is participating in the BATF as just a homeowner because there is no peace in PB. Said that the public schools are significantly impacted by alcohol, even a kayak website quotes PB as being well-known for its night-life because Garnet Ave. is the ìthe mile of bars.î Concerned about the culture of alcohol use and abuse and he wants to change that culture.

He wants a baseline to review where we go from here to see what changes are made as a result of the BATF; said that the BATF should reconvene in 2 yrs. to see if we met our goals.

He asked if the BATF will be voting on issues, or just discussing them and asking the C-M to take the issues to City Council.

Commented that the ABC has no limit to the number of licenses it will grant. Unless you live very near the establishment applying for a license, your protest is considered irrelevant. ABC not here to protect the community. Concerned that in 6 mths. we will have 6 additional licenses.

Provided the following statistics that there were 580 DUI in PB last year, and that the police report that only Ω of drunk drivers are typically caught.

Commented that alcohol on the beach alcohol attracts the wrong people to the community

C-M

Said that he will ask the ABC to go back 10 yrs. to look at the number of alcohol licenses in our beach communities. We will also look at how the licensing process works, what happens when a license is protested and what other cities have done in terms of limiting licenses.

Carol J.

Stated that she has applied for a beer/wine license with the ABC and disagreed with earlier comments that no licenses are refused. She said that many licenses are refused and that she has previously been refused by the ABC.

Commented that she is against more bars in PB and alcohol on the beach. Partying in homes is a huge problem as well.

She commented that to shift the balance in PB, we need to have nice restaurants with beer and wine licenses. For example, her business closes at 10 p.m., so not the same type of threat as the other bars. Stated that there are a few good restaurants thinking of leaving because they cannot get a liquor license. There are no decent restaurants and you need a license to be decent. Said she also knows of some fabulous restaurants that would love to come to the area but donít because you canít get beer/wine license. Said that she is fine to have conditions put on her license.

Todd B.

Stated that the group needs to look at how licenses are issued and how protests are handled, educating the public is important.

Commented that the Little Italy community actually brought in more alcohol licenses to make the community better because it was the type of licenses that they brought in, good restaurants.

Said that he only had a beer/wine for first 5 yrs. of his business at Bubs Dive Bar because he was initially denied a full liquor license. Eventually was able to get one after proving to be a good operator.

He is the Chair of the BIDís Hospitality Task Force. Wrote about how the group made a concerted effort to pay for uniformed officers from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. every Friday/Saturday night during the summer months. The effort eventually failed when the City Attorney said they could not do that. But shows that the group is willing and eager to have more police patrolling the area.

Dave M.

He owns the restaurant Shades in OB. He said there are ways for restaurant/bar owners to take responsibility of the problem.

Stated that bar owners in OB invited uniformed police officers into the bars. That presence was very helpful to control the crowds.

Stated that his staff is trained not to over-serve and their bar closes at 9pm.

He thinks that banning alcohol at the beach imposes on individual liberties; but that there is no right to cause problems.

The BATF needs to dial into the root causes of the problem to come up with solutions, find real cures and not just band aids.

Julie K.

She is a business owner, homeowner, and mother.

Concerned about how drinking on the beach effects her surf schools. She sat down with her surf team and asked what they wanted with their beach and they responded that there were not enough bathrooms so the inebriated urinate on seawalls, and they are tired of the passed out drunks.

The kids came up with the idea to create a small recreation zone where they could surf without any alcohol being allowed at their beach. They signed a petition and Julie has 500 signatures from people who want to see a zone created. Also commented that we should include the lifeguards in this discussion.

Katie K.

She is a renter in PB, and lives fairly far east in the PB area.

Noted that she is representing the PBTC and that the PBTC voted to support an alcohol ban.

Stated that she is enthusiastic for this holistic approach because the piecemeal effort has clearly not been effective.

Also stated that this is not re-hashing the issue because we need to all talk about it together in the same room.

Jean F.

Stated that she owns property in MB. She has her own lease agreements that require her renters to agree to be respectful. If they breach that agreement than the lease will be terminated.

Big management companies do not act responsibly with their tenants and thus have not control over them. Stated that maybe all the rental agencies should get together to create lease agreements, and this way they will not feel intimated by potential tenants

Commented that when the fire rings were taken away, the area really quieted down

Wants to try to have beaches alcohol free.

Jeremy M.

Wants everyone to be respectful of each otherís opinions, because in past meetings his opinions have been met with snide remarks from the crowd. We need to work together to solve these issues and not fight one another.

Stated that PB was rated the #1 beach destination by a regional magazine.

He said he will think about what both sides are saying and he hopes we can find middle ground that works with everybody

Clyde F.

He said that he would like to have a history of what all the beach communities in Southern California have done in terms of alcohol on the beach. If they had similar problems, how did they face them, and have those problems changed in light of the response.

Were there positive and negative changes to banning alcohol on the beach, or no changes. How did the number of arrests compare from before and after an alcohol ban.

Mark A.

19 years MB resident.

He said that the area was very peaceful place until about 3 yrs. ago when the college kids moved in. Now it has become a noisy area with loud parties that are really a problem.

Need to get to the element of the problem because just taking away the liberties of people will not take away the problem.

Nancie G.

She started neighborhood watch in her MB community and said that other communities should do the same. MB has involved the universities in this process, especially USD, and it has been extremely helpful because now the community has a direct link to the universities of the kids who cause most of the problems.

Very concerned about the crime rate and basic quality of life issues.

Said that maybe better lighting would help the area and that paid parking could reduce the element from the neighborhood.

C-M

Recognized Lt. Ahearn of Northern Divisions for his work on the recent Mission Beach crime. Asked him for help with the crime statistics requested.

Introduced Makinni Hammond of City Attorneyís office.

Makinni Hammond, Deputy City Atty., Head of DART program

Drug Abatement Response Team (DART).

They work with code compliance, police, and the community to address nuisance properties.

Also work with the CAPP program in mid-City

C-M

Asked committee members to let us know if they want a specific presentation or information to be provided at future meetings.

For future meetings: we will get information on what the beach communities from San Francisco down to Southern California have done in terms of banning alcohol on the beach or not and how it has helped or not. Said that we will do a separate meeting for a CAPP discussion; we will look at what we can do to deal with trash/bad neighbors; what can the City or property managers do; how to address new liquor licensesómoratorium or allow new licenses with conditions.

Todd B.

Thinks that we take whatever time is needed to get the right results.

Eve A.

Wanted her question answered regarding whether groups have voted on an alcohol ban. Dave Martin stated that the OBTC voted last year and the vote was to not have a total alcohol ban. Julie Klein responded that the OBMA has not voted on it.

Rick Oldham

Suggested that the BATF contact coast commanders for military outposts and school deans and ask that they provide one campus patrol or military police during thurs.-sat. nights because their personnel and students cause most of the problems. Also suggested that we utilize the RSVP.

Julie K.

Spoke about how OB has used the guardian angels for help, they walk the streets. Said that when they had NY city beat officers helping out the community the crime rate dropped.

Next Meeting

Date and Time: Monday, November 27, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. (2-2 Ω hours)

Location: Masonic building, 1711 Sunset Cliffs Blvd in OB, corner of Santa Cruz and Sunset Cliffs.

Topic: Alcohol Licenses.

Meeting concluded at 8:18 p.m.