Legal Bottleneck Squeezes Ban on Alcohol in Parks : Recreation: The county is considering rules on possession but finds that it can only regulate consumption. Officials will investigate their options.

When it comes to hiding liquor in parks and other public places, the county’s park rangers and police officers know that folks can be pretty inventive.

Just ask Ranger Parker Hancock.

Over the past two decades that Hancock, 48, has been a park ranger, he’s seen people hide booze in coffee cups, soda pop cans, and any other convenient containers that can camouflage a cold brew on a hot summer day.

But often, people don’t even bother to disguise their alcoholic beverages.

“We usually come up on people with six-packs of beer. They tell us they’re not drinking them and we tell them that if they’re not, to put them back in their car trunk,” Hancock said. “But the problem is that once the ranger drives away and the sheriffs drive away, guess what? The beer comes out again.”

Last week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to vote on a proposed ordinance barring the possession of alcoholic beverages at county parks and beaches. However, after learning that only the state has authority to restrict people from possessing closed containers of alcohol at the county’s park facilities and four beaches, supervisors delayed further consideration until Tuesday.

In recent years, appellate courts have ruled that local governments lack authority to bar alcoholic beverages in a park. But legislation pending in Sacramento would give local agencies that power.

“When people bring beer and ice chests to the parks, what are they for? Centerpieces?” asked Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez.

The board’s consideration of the ordinance--or some alternative--comes as recreation officials throughout the state gear up for spring and summer holidays, beginning with Easter, when park and beach use reach a peak. Nearly 7 million residents annually enjoy Orange County’s beaches and its 19 regional parks.

“For us, it’s now show time,” said Tim Miller, manager of regional parks for Orange County.

At state-owned beaches and parks in Orange County, state officials in 1992 prohibited the possession and drinking of alcohol to help reduce crime.

Vasquez said Orange County sheriff’s deputies who were informally surveyed said they needed help dealing with possession of alcoholic beverages at county-owned recreational areas. County park rangers are not authorized to cite or make arrests for liquor violations.

What counties and cities can do under existing law is try to control consumption, though not possession, of alcoholic beverages in public places, said John Peirce, a staff attorney with the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

“State law regulates where possession is and is not authorized,” Peirce said, and that preempts local governments from passing ordinances prohibiting possession of liquor in public places.

In Baldwin Park, a 1994 California appellate court case held that the city lacked authority to regulate possession of alcohol, said Assemblyman Martin Gallegos (D-El Monte), who has introduced AB 957, which will empower local governments.

“The city wanted to create a more positive environment in its parks to attract families and make the whole park outing experience very positive,” Gallegos said.

The bill has passed the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee and will go before the full Assembly, where approval would send the measure to the Senate for further consideration.

“I think this is exactly what would help Orange County and what they’re attempting to do,” Gallegos said. “It gives law enforcement another tool to work with.”

Vasquez has requested a legal opinion on Orange County’s alternatives, and he said he may support Gallegos’ legislation.

Statistics for alcohol-related incidents at county parks and beaches were not immediately available.

Park users, such as Roland Methot, 34, of Fountain Valley, said he prefers restrictions on both possession and drinking.

“You don’t want to have a children’s area where there is drinking going on, or nearby,” Methot said while pushing his children, Kaitlyn, 4, and Sean, 3, on a carousel at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley.

Aurelio Tlatenchi, 39, of Santa Ana, who also spent part of an afternoon at Mile Square park with his son, Gerardo, 1 1/2, said such a regulation is good for families.

“I come to the park with my son to enjoy the air and let him run around the playground,” Tlatenchi said. “He loves this park because of the ducks. But I’ve been here on busy weekends and it can get dangerous with people drinking, especially when there are gangs around.”

Orange County has 30,000 acres of parkland that range from Mile Square park near Orange County’s urban core to untamed areas such as Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park in South County.

Alcohol consumption has been banned since the 1960s, when most of Orange County was being developed, Miller said.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a major problem,” Miller said. “But the fact is, although there’s an ordinance against drinking, people do come in our parks and drink. We have a policy that we do not allow alcoholic beverages in the park. In practice, deputies and rangers inform the people that they’re not allowed to have it in a park, and if it’s an open container, they are asked to pour it out and put the rest away. If they comply, usually there’s no problem with it.”

Cyclist George Loughmiller, 63, of Buena Park, who rode through Mile Square park recently, agreed that it’s nice to enjoy a beer with a sandwich at a park.

“The problem is that it all starts out innocent,” Loughmiller said. “Nobody comes to a park to cause trouble. But sometimes these young kids get their hands on some beer and it makes them feel like they’re 10 feet tall. It changes people. I’m for not having any in the park.”