SEAL BEACH : Council to Decide on Alcohol Restrictions

Organizers of commercial events in the city may have to skip the sale or distribution of alcohol if the City Council decides today to approve sweeping restrictions on public consumption of alcohol.

The ordinance up for final adoption would prohibit the sale or distribution of alcohol at any commercial or promotional event. An ordinance pushed by Councilwoman Marilyn B. Hastings, which will also be put to a vote at the meeting, would extend the measure to include nonprofit events that are expected to draw more than 1,000 people.

“What we want to do is keep the big events dry,” Hastings said. “We have had incidents where people drink too much and cause us problems . . . with urinating in public and throwing up.”

Hastings also said the city could be held liable if someone is injured after having too much to drink at a Seal Beach event.

Seal Beach already has an ordinance that prohibits the sale or distribution of alcohol on public property without proper permits. The measure is flawed, however, because “there was no kind of criteria for determining whether to issue a permit or not,” City Manager Jerry L. Bankston said.

Jeff Williamson, Seal Beach Business Assn. president, said he opposes the proposal to ban alcohol at large, nonprofit events, including those organized by his group.

He asked how the city could say it was “OK” to serve alcohol at an event with 999 people, but not one with 1,001. “How do (nonprofit groups) know who is going to the event or not?” he asked.

Williamson said the business association, which was denied a permit to sell alcohol last September at a United Way event, does not have a problem with the proposal to prohibit commercial or profit-making groups from selling or serving alcohol at public events.

But Shari Nemirow, Chamber of Commerce vice president, said the original ordinance could mean lost revenues for Seal Beach because some commercial groups may opt to hold their crowd-drawing events elsewhere.