Craft beers are slated to be sold at the Huntington Beach Sports Complex next to a playground as scores of residents raised concerns over serving alcohol in the public park.
It comes after city council members authorized the vendor to start selling alcohol out of the snack shacks in the park – roughly eight feet away from a playground.
Council members who backed the deal repeatedly warned the snack shack’s operator they’d be “on a tight leash” and noted that they could revoke the permits to serve alcohol at any time, but said it was the parents’ right to drink if they want it.
“Make sure you’re not serving drunks, or making drunks really,” Mayor Pat Burns said at Tuesday’s meeting.
It was a big break away from many of the residents who asked city council members not to greenlight alcohol sales, many of whom have been the council majority’s most outspoken supporters at meetings over the past three years.
Councilman Chad Williams, who brought the issue to the city council to weigh in on, argued they shouldn’t allow any alcohol sales to “hijack” the park because when the voters approved the construction of the sports park there was never any discussion or allowance for alcohol sales.
Williams also played back a recording from a 2018 planning commission meeting that stated the snack shack would not have the ability to apply to serve alcohol because they weren’t full service.
While the snack shack’s operators are planning on adding an outdoor seating area for people to drink at with food service, Williams argued that they still can’t apply to serve alcohol until after it’s built.
“Now this place that was always a focus for children, it’s really all about the adults,” Williams said. “Those were animations they showed us, that’s not reality.”
Williams and Councilman Andrew Gruel were the only ones who voted against the proposal.
Councilman Don Kennedy disagreed with Williams, saying that the snack shack “morphed” into a restaurant that makes it eligible to offer alcohol if the city signs off.
Kennedy also pointed to a statistic he said he found about how 30% of fatal driving accidents involved alcohol, and less than 10% of non fatal accidents were DUIs, noting that accidents would happen regardless of who drank.
“When somebody drinks and there’s an accident it’s absolutely horrible. If they didn’t drink the accident wouldn’t happen. But accidents are happening all the time,” Kennedy said. “There’s that tie in right now that if you have a beer and you have a kid, you’re not a great parent. That just doesn’t square up. If you’re an alcoholic mess, you’re not a great parent.”
Kennedy claimed that kids having access to cell phones from a young age might be doing more damage than seeing their parents in a bar, and said they have to have “some faith” in parents to drink responsibly.
“The damage we see happening to the youths, with the phones, the social media, the video games, that could be more than seeing your parents drink. But not a parent says a word about that,” Kennedy said. “I would be more worried nowadays with parents who are on heavy pharma … to me pharma’s the biggest threat there is right now.”
Councilwoman Gracey Van Der Mark compared the decision to her attempt to create a restricted section in the city library, noting that before alcohol was served there would be security and an enclosure to drink at the snack shack.
“We put protections and safeguards in place. But I don’t think it’s anybody’s right or responsibility to tell us how to parent and nanny our children,” Van Der Mark said. “If anybody questions my commitment to protecting kids, then they don’t know me. But I also value the right for every parent to make the choice for their children.”
Burns also came out in favor of selling alcohol, calling it a “tough decision.”
“Monks developed and discovered, they’re the ones who invented, in a sense, beer. So, religious,” Burns said. “I’m not going to say anything. I’ve had my share of booze, but you’ve got to be responsible.”
Councilman Casey McKeon agreed, pointing out how the city greenlit beer sales at Chuck E. Cheese, bowling alleys, hockey games and other venues, and that it was on the individual to behave responsibly.
“It’s not the vehicle. It’s not the weapon. It’s not the alcohol,” McKeon said. “It’s the person that abuses it.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.