No keg stands, no shotgunning, no beer bongs, no beer pong, no chugging, not even a quiet sunset plastic cup of wine. Not at San Diego’s beaches, anyway. The city of San Diego’s voters have spoken, and with a third of their ballots counted, 60 percent of them want folks to find someplace else to drink.
San Diego’s beach booze ban, an effort that launched in the wake of last year’s Labor Day unrest in Pacific Beach, is now poised to become a permanent part of the law.
San Diego’s City Council had instituted a one-year ban after the Labor Day incident. City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, a booze ban proponent, said he believed the council had given residents a one-year opportunity to experience booze-free beaches and decide for themselves whether they liked them.
“The early results demonstrate that a lot of people had a positive experience at the beach this last year,” Faulconer said. “That was always important to me. For a lot of people, their vote will be based on personal experience.”
Early Wednesday morning, with returns still coming in, the ban’s opponents maintained hope that returns would turn in their favor.
“Every time the numbers come out the gap closes,” said Dan Cruz, a ban opponent. “At this point things are looking bleak, but we’re still optimistic.”