Panama City Beach is shedding its image as the ultimate spring break destination in Florida — starting with a new ordinance banning alcohol on beaches, to commence next year.
In a special meeting held at the Arnold High School auditorium on Tuesday night, the five members of the Panama City Beach council voted unanimously to approve Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen's proposal to prohibit alcohol consumption on the beach during spring break. The council identified spring break as the entire month of March — although two members wanted to include the end of February and the beginning of April into the ban period.
The proposed ban comes on the heels of Spring Break 2015, which saw an increased number of arrests and confiscated firearms from the same period last year. The city is also hoping to clean up its image, which is tainted with negative publicity after the non-fatal shooting of seven people at a house party and an online video that shows multiple men sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman, believed to have been drugged, behind Spinnaker Beach Club where hundreds of other people were partying nearby.
"This is disgusting," McKeithen said. "We have got to get control of our beaches, it is not safe for our children to be out there on the beaches when these animals are out there."
The city also approved two other ordinances to keep intoxicated spring breakers from wreaking havoc. One prohibits all alcohol sales after 2 a.m. and the other bans open containers of alcohol in commercial parking lots, unless supervised by the business owner. Both ordinances still need to be approved, and the ban of alcohol on the beach still needs to have its own ordinance drafted.
Unsurprisingly, hospitality businesses oppose the ban, saying that spring break has become the lifeblood of the Panama City Beach economy. Arthur Cullen, a representative for the industry, proposed an alternative that does not involve a total prohibition of alcohol during spring break. Among the measures Cullen suggested – and had rejected – were fencing off of the beach area behind local clubs and installing watchtowers for security personnel and local enforcement.
Supporters of the alcohol ban however argue that spring breakers do not bring so much to the city economy, since they spend less on vacation than families or snowbirds — vacationers from colder regions who like to spend the winter in warmer areas such as Panama City Beach.
"March is not what it's made out to be," said Hector Solis, a supporter of the ban. "We're told that [spring break] means all this economic stimulus to the area, and it's going to the few, it's not going to the many."
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Photo: Gregory Kirk Johnson | Pixabay
