Ban of glass bottles, booze likely in parks

By Sam Skolnik

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Last call is coming to the remaining municipal parks in the valley where alcohol is allowed without special permits.

Las Vegas officials are set to ban booze from the city’s 67 parks. They say the largely unrestricted drinking in the parks results in myriad problems, from DUIs to workers being injured by broken beer bottles they have to clean up.

Drinking is outlawed in the city’s four children’s parks and is otherwise prohibited only in parks’ car lots and playground areas. A proposed ordinance revision, expected to be approved at today’s City Council meeting, would expand the ban to all parts of all city parks. The revised law would stipulate that exceptions could be made with specially authorized permits from the Leisure Services Department.

The revision would bring Las Vegas in line with jurisdictions including Henderson, North Las Vegas and Clark County.

For Las Vegas officials, the issue is about more than the nuisance of drunken behavior.

City Councilman Gary Reese said drinking has gotten out of hand at parks in his Ward 3 in eastern Las Vegas, including at Rafael Rivera Park on Stewart Avenue near 30th Street.

“To me, they’re abusing their right to use the park,” Reese said of people who use the park as a hangout to get drunk — including many who drive there and then drive away under the influence. City parks, unlike bars, have no employees who can cut a drinker off or try to talk him out driving, advocates of the ban said.

Reese, who noted that Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian also supports the ban, said he doesn’t want to punish those who want to have a quick beer, say, during a picnic or after a softball game.

“I’m not against drinking at all,” Reese said.

But those who abuse the privilege prevent families and children from enjoying the parks, Reese said. Drinkers can be loud and obnoxious, leave broken bottles behind and disturb parks’ overall character.

Statistics from the city show 250 alcohol-related arrests, citations and “other reports” at city parks in 2008. That number was down slightly from the 262 such instances in 2007.

The revised ordinance also would make it illegal to bring any glass container into a park. Violation would be a misdemeanor, punishable by no more than six months in jail or a maximum $1,000 fine.

Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said cities can prohibit drinking in parks. But, he added, the glass container ban seems “a little overbroad.”

The glass ban is an important part of the change for city workers who for months have sought a revision of the ordinance, according to a two-page fact sheet compiled by city staffers. The workers say they want increased protection for park users, promote civic-minded conduct, prevent damage to parks and equipment, and minimize injuries from broken bottles.

Moreover, “there have been costly workers’ compensation claims related to lifting heavy trash bags due to an overwhelming amount of empty glass bottles, in addition to staff being cut by broken glass.”

Glass bottles often don’t make it to a trash can, the fact sheet said, and are often found broken on the parking lots, playgrounds and sports fields.

According to the fact sheet, 40 percent of all city park employees spend 30 minutes every day picking up glass.