Well, it looks like it was fun while it lasted. I guess no college students will be going to Panama City Beach anymore for Spring Break after hearing this news. Here’s the latest news regarding Alcohol being banned on the beach for Spring Break next year:
After years of discussion, months of loud public outcry and a battle of dueling t-shirts, the Panama City Beach City Council unanimously approved a motion Tuesday night to ban alcohol consumption on the beaches during March 2016, the peak of the college spring break season.
The council voted 5-0 in favor of the ban in the closing minutes of a three-hour council meeting that took place at the Arnold High School auditorium rather than the usual city council chambers to accommodate the hundreds of residents who wanted to weigh in on the proposals.
Members of the group Citizens for a New Panama City Beach erupted into applause after the vote was taken. Many of them were wearing matching blue custom t-shirts with the words “Please save our beach” emblazoned over an image of a young boy playing on the beach with an American flag planted next to him in the sand.
The plan Cullen presented, which he said had the support of many of the businesses involved, included measures such as fencing off the beach areas behind popular clubs, forcing patrons to enter from the street side and not the beach, and banning coolers, funnels, and the “beer pong” tables dug into the sand. The group offered to install elevated watch towers along their properties on the beach for law enforcement or security personnel to better observe the crowds.
Supporting the ban, Hector Solis argued that the economic impact of spring break is overblown and that spring breakers spend relatively little per person, compared to families, snowbirds or other visitors. He said the impact to the city was further diminished by the added expenses of additional policing and other city services.
The only point of contention among the council members was how long “spring break” lasts. The council voted 3-2 to define spring break as the month of March only. Council members Josie Strange and Keith Curry wanted to include the end of February and beginning of April as well.
According to the Panama City News Herald newspaper, an ordinance will have to be drafted and voted on twice before the beach alcohol ban is official.
In addition to endorsing the alcohol ban, the council approved on first reading two other spring break ordinances which will prohibit alcohol sales after 2 a.m. and ban drinking alcohol in commercial parking lots during spring break. Those ordinances will be read again and voted on for final approval.
