Beach booze is worth a short pilot

News flash: people sneak drink on our beaches and some people get out of hand. You won’t see them holding a can of Naramata Nutbrown, it will be cleverly disguised inside a Tim Hortons cup.

Penticton City Council will vote on a semi-controversial motion by Coun. Campbell

Watt on Tuesday on whether to initiate a one-month pilot project allowing people to imbibe in some public places, like beaches or Gyro Park.

In most of Europe, this would be a non-issue. But, here in

B.C., it would be a cutting edge concept. Vancouver and

Vernon are among the centres that are also considering a similar action.

We support the idea of the beaches at Okanagan Lake, but oppose Gyro Park because it presently has issues with vagrancy.

Citizens have flooded our letters page with concerns about litter, impaired driving, liability, spoiling a family atmosphere and boorish behaviour.

These are all very legitimate concerns. A four-week pilot might negate any fears.

Perhaps it will be a disaster. But it’s worth a try. Penticton needs to recover.

Don’t forget, most of the festivals held in public parks (Peachfest the exception) are licenced.

Fire pits were introduced on a trial basis and although there have been occasional problems, overall it has been a success.

In an effort to recover, Kelowna is shutting down Bernard Avenue this summer to foot traffic only. It’s worth a try. Let’s see what happens. They are trying it for one year.

Coun. Watt’s perfect world is for people to get out, enjoy the sunshine (which is good for mental health), use social distancing and support local wineries, restaurants and breweries.

Even though our food industry has done a great job adjusting to take-out only, tourism and hospitality have taken a huge hit. Some businesses won’t survive which means their employees are out of work.

Until there’s a COVID vaccination, it’s not going to be like it was before. Limited seating will be mandated. The days of Friday night on The Parrot patio aren’t going to be like they were ... at least not this summer.

Is beach booze a good idea? Maybe, maybe not.

Will there be problems? Maybe, maybe not.

Is it worth trying for one month under strict regulations?

We think so.

—James Miller Managing Editor