A Carlsbad tourism official is strongly in favor of a couple of proposed ordinances that would curb late-night boozing, carousing and vandalizing in the downtown Village area, which would allow tourists to feel safer and more relaxed.
The restrictions target an area in a three-block radius of the intersection of Carlsbad Village Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard, around State Street, said Nancy Nayudu, chairwoman of the Carlsbad Convention & Visitors Bureau and owner of the 10-room Pelican Cove Bed and Breakfast Inn nearby.
“I also live down here,” she said, explaining that her business is three blocks south of the area and her home is next door to the business.
Tourists like to be able to walk from local inns and lodges to the Village area’s eateries at night, secure in the notion that it’s safe, she said.
The first change calls for a ban on possessing and consuming alcohol in downtown’s public areas, including Rotary Park, streets, sidewalks and alleys, as well as the city’s tourism promotion office.
The other, an entertainment ordinance, would mandate that restaurants and bars acquire a new city license if they want to offer live music or other entertainment as well as alcohol.
The restrictions call for new training for all employees who serve alcohol; having at least one security guard on the premises; and staying closed between 2-6 a.m.
Nayudu said that late-night, out-of-control drinkers, many of whom spill out from local bars, can usually be heard partying and carrying on in the streets from 2-3 a.m. on weekends and during the middle of the week in the summer.
Many appear to be young people who are just older than the drinking age of 21, while some appear younger, she added.
She said vandals have taken such a toll on a gazebo in Rotary Park that it’s “in a state of disrepair.”
But Nayudu pointed out that the problem is not citywide, and she and others do not want the ordinances to affect popular summertime concerts, such as TGIF Jazz in the Parks that are held in the city’s largest parks.
The Carlsbad City Council gave unanimous approval Sept. 18 to the proposed ordinances. They are slated for a second and final vote this week, and, if the ordinances are approved again, they could take effect 30 days later.
