Booze still banned at Shaw’s Cove

Concerns about “drinking and diving” prompted the City Council to take no action Tuesday on a weekly Happy Hour at Shaw’s Cove proposed by oceanfront homeowners.

City Manager Ken Frank will work with the homeowners to find an option more acceptable to the council than the requested exemption to the city code — which prohibits drinking alcoholic beverages on defined beach areas.

“I feel like the Grinch that stole the wine,” Councilwoman Jane Egly said. “But I am concerned that drinking on the beach is a place we don’t want to go.”

Alcoholic beverages are permitted at city parks, with “meals,” although what constitutes a “meal” is unclear. Shaw’s Cove resident Otis Healy described the homeowners’ proposal as a minor exception to the existing ordinance, piggybacking onto the park exemption.

“We would be happy to volunteer Shaw’s Cove for a trial of this proposal,” Healy said. “If there were no complaints or objections, then the proposal for an exemption could be expanded to other beachfront homes.”

Shaw’s Cove property owners sought the exemption to the code so they could legally serve wine or beer with food for two-and-a-half hours at their weekly get-togethers on the beach in front of their homes.

Frank said homeowners’ imbibing on the beach has created some tension between them and the police department when officers attempt to enforce city law.

The neighbors have been under the mistaken impression that part of the beach at Shaw’s Cove belongs to the oceanfront property owners. However, all of the sandy portion of Shaw’s Cove is open to the public, and the exemption would be an option for anyone on the beach.

Frank said that is why the proposal was made as a pilot program.

“If hooligans came and neighbors complained, it would be shut down,” Frank said.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman said the exemption is a can of worms the city should not open.

“We can’t designate public beaches for certain people to have special privileges,” Iseman said.

The same privilege would have to be extended to other beaches, where the beach-goers might not be as mature as the Shaw’s Cove homeowners, which could lead to “surfing under the influence.”