Council Moves to Ban Alcohol at City Beaches : Prohibition: Committee unanimously approves a recommendation to ban drinking at all city beaches and at some city parks.

Alcohol consumption at all city beaches, from Sunset Cliffs to the southern border of Torrey Pines State Beach, could be banned as early as March under a recommendation approved Wednesday by a committee of the San Diego City Council.

In a unanimous 5-0 vote, the council’s Public Facilities and Recreation committee agreed to a yearlong trial of the booze ban at all beaches under city jurisdiction and several city parks. The ban includes all of Mission Bay Park, shoreline streets in Mission Beach and public areas of Pacific Beach up to the eastern edge of Mission Bay Boulevard.

The committee also approved a permanent alcohol ban at La Jolla Shores beach and Kellogg and North Park Community parks, where trial prohibitions under way since last August have been favorably received by nearby homeowners and the police.

That decision modified a vote taken last month, when the committee recommended a permanent alcohol ban for all beaches and shoreline parks north of the South Mission Beach jetty.

Drinking is now banned from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on city beaches north of the Mission Bay channel entrance.

Wednesday’s vote came a year to the day after the full City Council rejected a more wide-ranging ban on alcohol consumption at all city beaches and parks that had been recommended by the same committee. That rejection led to the experimental bans at La Jolla Shores beach and the two parks.

“The police have confirmed what we suspected. They indicated how successful we were” with the trial alcohol bans, Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer said.

Police Lt. John Morrison reported “overwhelmingly beneficial effects” from the trial prohibitions, including fewer cases of drunkenness, vandalism and loud parties. The ban was eagerly received by neighbors and easier to enforce than expected, he said.

But, in an interview, Morrison said that enforcing the ban might prove more difficult at other beaches, which are less enclosed than La Jolla Shores and where the nearby community may not prove as receptive.

“Some of these gains may not translate as easily to other beach areas,” Morrison said.

The measure must be approved by the nine-member City Council, which could vote on the matter by the end of this month, and could go into effect in early March if it is passed, said Deputy City Manager Maureen Stapleton.

Approval appears likely because the five committee members who approved the ban Wednesday--Deputy Mayor Bob Filner and council members Judy McCarty, Bruce Henderson, John Hartley and Wolfsheimer--compose a majority of the full council.

If approved, the extended ban would restrict San Diego beachfront drinking to those strips of coast not under city control--such as Torrey Pines state beach--according to Terri Williams, deputy director of the Park and Recreation department’s coastal division.

A small number of other county beaches, including Solana Beach, Imperial Beach and Encinitas Beach still allow drinking, according to Williams. Most other Southern California communities already ban drinking on their beaches.

As is the case with the trial ban now in effect, organized groups of 75 or more could seek permits allowing them to consume alcohol at beach and park gatherings. The committee also recommended that the full council reconsider whether smaller groups should be allowed to receive such permits.

Private property, such as the resort hotels in Mission Bay Park, also would be exempt from the ban.

The parks selected for the trial include Mission Trails Regional Park, Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, Memorial Park in Logan Heights, and Vista Terrace Neighborhood Park and San Ysidro Sports Field (commonly known as Larsen Field) in San Ysidro.

The committee vote followed a public hearing attended by 150 people, most opposed to extending the full booze ban to places such as Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs.

Law-abiding beach-goers protested that the ban would take away their rights to quietly imbibe, and beach-area retailers who sell beer and wine complained that a booze ban could hurt their business.

“All the businesses, even those which are not food- and drink- related, are suffering,” said Linda Hardison, operator of the Neighbor Saver food store near La Jolla Shores beach.

But La Jolla Shores area residents praised the booze ban for reducing rowdyism, vandalism and loud parties nearby. Some neighbors of other city beaches asked for similar protections.

“Kids cannot go to the beach and walk along the boardwalk with the types of activity you have there now,” said William G. Luther, president of the Mission Beach Town Council, which favors the ban.