The Cape May city council on Thursday voted to allow outdoor consumption of alcohol, making it the latest Jersey Shore town to allow public drinking to help businesses that were forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic.
The city, which has previously outlawed drinking in public, will allow alcohol consumption from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the beach, promenade, the local mall and several streets. Public drinking will be allowed in Cape May until Nov. 1, according to the resolution.
With three members in favor, one opposed and another abstaining, the five-member council passed resolution 5P-10P, which suspends provisions in a previous ordinance that prohibiting drinking.
The measure provides “a modest counter-action to the devastating economic consequences to the COVID-19 quarantine and related restriction on our local economy,” Mayor Clarence “Chuck” Lear said during the special council meeting, held on Zoom.
“I want us to be prudent, responsible and bold protecting our businesses, our tourism economy and our community,” Lear said.
Prohibitions on consumption city streets, highways and in vehicles, shall remain in effect, according to the resolution that was passed.
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Anyone drinking alcohol must carry identification establishing they are age 21 or older, the resolution states.
Purchased alcohol must be in sealed containers and unsealed only when the person who is drinking is in a designated public area.
“Open public consumption may only occur in plastic cups or appropriate plastic containers, such as sealed plastic pouches,” the resolution states. “No glass cups or bottles shall be permitted for open containers.”
In addition, the capacity of the cup or container cannot exceed 16 ounces and “persons consuming in public must limit themselves to a single drink, and may not bring large containers of alcoholic beverages, such as kegs or coolers, into places where public consumption is allowed,” the resolution says.
The streets where drinking is allowed are:
- Lafayette Street from Perry to Franklin
- 400 block of Bank Street
- 400 block of Elmira Street
- Perry to Beach [starting at Lafayette]
- Jackson to Beach [starting at Lafayette]
- Decatur to Beach [starting at Lafayette]
- Ocean to Beach [starting at Lafayette]
- Washington Street [Perry to Jefferson Street]
- Carpenters Lane [Perry to Ocean]
- Lyle Lane [Perry to Ocean]
- Howard from Columbia to Beach
- 1300 block of Texas Avenue
- Beach Avenue from Patterson to Pittsburgh
Cape May Deputy Mayor Patricia Gray Hendricks acknowledged during the virtual meeting that allowing public drinking raised a number of concerns among residents. But after listening to both residents and businesses, she decided to vote “yes.”
“This decision like all COVID decisions is a balancing act. It’s one I’d rather not have to make, but I can’t shirk my responsibility (to the economy),” she said.
Outdoor alcohol consumption has been approved in other shore towns such as North Wildwood, Wildwood, and Atlantic City.
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
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