Thread: Gulf Shores Bans Beach Spring Break alcohol

Gulf Shores bans alcohol on beaches for remainder of spring break | AL.com

By Jonathan Grass | jgrass@al.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 18, 2016 at 6:05 PM, updated March 18, 2016 at 6:49 PM





The Gulf Shores City Council has banned all alcohol on its beaches effective immediately.
During a special meeting on Friday, the council unanimously adopted an ordinance to prohibit the possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages along the entire Gulf beaches within city limits. The ban is in effect through April 17.
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft spoke previously about such a ban, saying excessive alcohol consumption was becoming a problem.
"The city has a responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of our residents and visitors and an obligation to protect the reputation of the city as a family-friendly destination," said Craft. "In order to keep spring break in Gulf Shores a safe environment, it is time we take action."
This new ban prohibits any possession or consumption of any alcoholic beverage on any portion of the beach south of the protected sand dunes within the Gulf Shores city limits from the west end of Gulf State Park Beach to the very end of West Beach.
Anyone who violates the new ordinance can face a fine up to $500 or up to six months in jail.
The Gulf Shores City Council stated it feels the "prolonged consumption of alcohol this year is directly associated with undesirable behavior and an increased risk to public safety," especially with the number of college-aged people drawn there during spring break.
"Gulf Shores has long been known as a favorite beach destination for families from across the Southeast and Midwest," said Craft. "In recent years, we have seen an increase in students coming here for spring break, and we again want to reiterate that we are a family-friendly destination that welcomes visitors of all ages to enjoy our beaches and destination responsibly. We as city leaders have an obligation to do whatever is necessary to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for our citizens and our visitors and to protect our beaches."

This is similar to the alcohol ban imposed at Panama City Beach. Some say it's made the city tamer by driving partiers away.

Oh, No! Now they will be angry and storm the pier in protest since it is a renown bastion of sobriety.

That is just a ridiculous knee-jerk, look at us, we're doing something reaction.
$500 and/or 6 months, just a bit overboard there.
What about all the locals and tourists who aren't binge drinking dumba$$es, infringe on them because of a few overly exuberant college weenies?

I hope enough of the regular tourist go elsewhere and they lose enough revenue to be noticed.

It's only through April 15 th. No big deal.

I can live without booze on the beach. If it means keeping GS from becoming an out of control cluster $;&# like PCB and some of the other Florida beaches then do what they need to do. The pictures I saw on FB last week of the piles of empty beer cans left by these people is reason enough.

No booze on the beach doesn't bother me, especially if it's just until 4/15. Keep the rabble-rousers/spring breakers away.

After listening to the news about sexual assaults, trash on the beach, deaths from alcohol poisoning and falls from condos, I for one won't miss that cold beer for a couple weeks. It's a shame we have to target a particular group, but when they behave poorly, oh well...

From Steve Jones FB page:

There is much reaction to the decision that was made yesterday regarding alcohol consumption on the beaches of Gulf Shores and Gulf State Park. For those of you that are declaring it unnecessary, I hope you think it is fair for me to say that perhaps you might not know everything that has happened that drove us to take this action. It was anything but a knee jerk reaction I promise you.And may I say the only people it is REALLY going to affect are people that you don't want to be next to on the beach anyway. A mob of 1,000 drunk "children" that are actively demonstrating they've no regard for anyone or anything is not something you would want to deal with.
For What It's Worth......

Originally Posted by fshntime

After listening to the news about sexual assaults, trash on the beach, deaths from alcohol poisoning and falls from condos, I for one won't miss that cold beer for a couple weeks. It's a shame we have to target a particular group, but when they behave poorly, oh well...

Yep, and it all starts with parenting, which seems to not happen anymore. Not to say I didn't get a little tore up drunk when I was younger, but these folks jumping off balconies trying to hit the pool is just stupid. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Originally Posted by SNAKE

No booze on the beach doesn't bother me, especially if it's just until 4/15. Keep the rabble-rousers/spring breakers away.

Doesn't stop them from drinking in their rooms though. That being said, the condo we are staying at issued an email a couple of weeks back that basically said if you are under 25 then you can't rent from us. Contact us for a full refund. Then they went on to explain the whole we are not supporting a spring break here. If you want that go to Panama.

For what it is worth, I heard Panama is becoming more strict on it too.