An amendment to a Duluth city ordinance prohibiting open containers of alcoholic beverages in public places is aiming to close a loophole in the ordinance that is hindering police officers from effectively cracking down on public drunkenness.
Kristi Stokes, president of the Greater Downtown Council, and several police officers brought the loophole to the attention of City Councilor Donny Ness.
"What I've heard from police officers and downtown business leaders is there is kind of a loophole in the law in which a person can carry around an open container of alcohol, but if they are not caught consuming the alcohol they can't get in trouble," Ness said.
To the current ordinance, the amendment would add the provision that no person on a public street, sidewalk, avenue, alley, trail or skywalk shall possess an open alcoholic beverage unless the proper alcohol consumption permit or on-sale liquor license has been issued.
Ness said the amendment is not to deter people from receiving permits to consume alcohol outside. Rather, it is aimed at deterring public drunkenness in the downtown area.
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"It's a big problem," Ness said. "I think we see too much public drunkenness in downtown, which leads to uncomfortable confrontations."
Police Chief Roger Waller said the amendment came out of an ordinance failure.
"We had an ordinance prohibiting drinking in public, but we didn't have an ordinance covering open containers," Waller said. "We would have a situation (where) if they weren't drinking it was unenforceable."
Waller said the amendment will help the police department deal with the quality-of-life issues in the downtown area and will provide police officers with the tools needed to do their jobs.
"It's a tool, and it's going to help us deal with these types of issues in the downtown area," Waller said. "It's a problem we face every year with street people and some of the alcoholics that live in or around the downtown area."
Waller said fines for open containers will be similar to consumption fines.
In agreement with Ness, Waller said, the amendment does not affect street dances or special events where a special liquor permit is in place.
Neither Waller nor Ness have heard any opposition to the amendment.
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"I've only heard positive things about it," Ness said. "People have been very supportive, and for most folks, they are simply surprised that it has not been on the books already. They see it as a common-sense approach to the problem."
The second reading of the ordinance will be next week.
