Restaurants Launch BYOB Petition Drive in Ocean City

A group of restaurant owners wants voters to decide if Ocean City should remain a completely dry town, and their bid enters a new stage today with the start of a petition drive.

A five-member committee of Ocean City residents will begin seeking signatures on a petition that asks for a public vote in November on an ordinance that would allow restaurant patrons to bring their own alcoholic beverages to certain restaurants‚a practice commonly known as "Bring Your Own Bottle," or BYOB.

The proposed new ordinance would replace an existing one that prohibits the consumption of alcohol in food establishments.

Ocean City has banned the sale and public drinking of alcohol since its founding as a Methodist retreat in the late 19th century. The alcohol ban helped Ocean City create a nationally known brand as "America's Greatest Family Resort," and protecting that image has led to fierce opposition to this and past BYOB proposals.

Mayor Jay Gillian, also the owner of the biggest amusement center on the boardwalk, has said repeatedly that he strongly opposes any BYOB initiative. Having seen past proposals divide the city, City Council took the unusual measure in January of passing a nonbinding resolution "opposing any effort to remove the prohibition of consuming alcoholic beverages in restaurants, cafes or food establishment"—at the time, no formal effort had been proposed.

The restaurant owners organizing the petition drive don't argue that Ocean City remains a wildly popular seasonal destination, but they believe a BYOB law can help sustain local restaurants and neighboring businesses in the long off-season—when the island's population dips to 11,700 people (a 24 percent decrease in 10 years, according to the 2010 U.S. Census).

“We don’t want to change what Ocean City is,” said Kevin Scull, a Mays Landing resident who has owned and operated  at 955 Asbury Ave. for the past five years. “We want the same family feel.”

But Scull and other members of the Ocean City Restaurant Association believe that diners expect to have a drink with dinner as part of a dining experience, and they believe BYOB can be implemented without changing Ocean City's character or reputation.

They believe, at minimum, that the question should be put to a vote.

THE PETITION

The petition includes the complete language of the proposed new ordinance (click on the PDF icon with the photo and video thumbnails above to see the complete petition). The document outlines where, when and how patrons could bring their own alcoholic beverages to dining establishments. Some examples of the proposed restrictions include:

• Qualified establishments would have to: be licensed by the Health Department, have a regularly employed wait staff of at least one, have tables with table coverings, and not be reserved primarily for private functions.
• Any outdoor seating would have to be at least five feet from public rights of way and be separated by visual screening at least four feet high.
• The ordinance would allow only unopened containers.
• The ordinance would allow only the consumption of wine and beer (and other malt alcoholic beverages).
• BYOB hours would be limited to 2 to 11 p.m.
• Consumption would be limited to one 750-milliliter wine bottle per patron or one six-pack of wine coolers or malt alcoholic beverages per two patrons.
• Carrying coolers into establishments would be prohibited.
• Boardwalk dining establishments would be required to have an entrance off the Boardwalk for BYOB patrons during the summer season (between the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend and the Monday of Labor Day Weekend).
• Individual restaurant owners would be able to prohibit BYOB at their own establishments.

The document lists a Committee of Petitioners that includes: John L. Ball Jr. (400 block of Central Avenue), Sharon L. Hoffman (55th Street), Eleanor S. Parker (Edinburgh Road), Jane L. Custer (3800 block of Central Avenue) and Michael J. Carlin (Westminster Lane).

The petitioners need at least 747 signatures for the question to appear on the Nov. 8, 2011, ballot as an initiative (when citizens seek a public vote, it's an "initiative" ... when elected officials call for a public vote, it's a "referendum"). That figure represents 15 percent of the registered Ocean City voters who voted in the last General Assembly election (Nov. 3, 2009), according to Jeff Sutherland, an attorney and Ocean City resident representing the restaurant owners.

The signatures of only registered Ocean City voters will be considered valid, Sutherland said

If the committee succeeds in getting enough signatures (they plan to collect more than the minimum, Sutherland said), the petition will be submitted to the city clerk for review. 

City Council would have the opportunity to consider the petition—endorsing it, asking the petitioning committee for revisions or taking no action. But, if the requisite signatures are validated, council could not prevent the measure from going to a public vote, according to Sutherland.

The initiative would have to be approved by only a simple majority at the polls on Nov. 8, he said.

ARGUMENT FOR PETITION

Scull and Bill McGinnity, a 1982 Ocean City High School graduate and owner of  at 104 Asbury Ave., are vice presidents of the Ocean City Restaurant Association. The two men have spearheaded the effort to launch the petition drive—"taken the bullets," according to Scull in a recent interview.

Scull said restaurant owners had talked about the possibility of BYOB since the formation of the Restaurant Association in July 2007. The creation of a popular BYOB Facebook page last summer helped convince them that the time was right.

They believe that even neighboring retail establishments could benefit from a BYOB law that could attract more people to Ocean City in the off-season.

Scull said the Restaurant Association has about 52 members, and he acknowledged that a couple members backed out because of the debate over BYOB. But he said the majority of the members support what they feel is a well-thought-out ordinance that will protect the character of Ocean City.

McGinnity said stapled petition packets will be delivered to the Committee of Petitioners today.

"The right to vote on this is bigger even than the issue itself," said Jane Custer, a member of the committee.

That's a sentiment shared by Sutherland, who says that even opponents of BYOB could sign the petition to let the public's will be known.

Custer has lived in Ocean City since 1987 and works a few days a week as a hostess at Cousin's. She says not a summer night goes by when she doesn't take a bottle away from a customer who is completely unaware that Ocean City prohibits BYOB.

She also says she feels that collecting signatures will not be an issue—based on the number of people she knows who already are ready to sign.

THE ARGUMENT AGAINST

The mayor was in meetings Monday and he said in a phone message that he was unavailable for immediate comment, but in previous interviews, he has made his position clear: To tamper with Ocean City's reputation as a family resort would be foolhardy.

He compares BYOB proponents to people who buy property next to an airport, then complain about all the planes going by.

A leader at one of Ocean City's traditional church organizations shares Gillian's sentiments.

"I want to keep Ocean City the way it is," said Richard Stanislaw, president of the Ocean City Tabernacle.

Stanislaw was reluctant on Monday to characterize his position as opposition, because that would imply a conflict.

"It's bad publicity for the community to have a public fight over the issue," he said.

He said the Tabernacle trustees are on record for preserving the status quo.

"We don't see it as a religious issue," Stanislaw said. "We see it as a quality-of-life issue."

He also said: "It's a market niche that we don't want to fool with."

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