Panama City eyes cutting alcohol sales hours after violent Spring Break weekend in PCB

PANAMA CITY — City commissioners held an emergency meeting Wednesday to propose a change in their alcohol sales policy in response to last weekend's Spring Break chaos in Panama City Beach.

City officials proposed a change to Ordinance 3059, which would annually prohibit the sale of alcohol within city limits between 2 and 7 a.m. from March 1 to April 30. The city’s current ordinance, which ends the sale of alcohol at 4 a.m., would remain in place during the rest of the year.

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There was no vote on the proposed changes, only a first reading of the ordinance. City Attorney Nevin Zimmerman said this would make the city uniform with the rest of the county.

There are three parts of the proposed ordinance:

• Prohibit the sale of alcohol within city limits between 2 and 7 a.m. from March 1 to April 30 annually.

• For establishments selling alcohol to remain open past 2 a.m. the remaining 10 months out of the year, they must pass certain requirements, such as adequate off-street parking, criminal background checks of owners and operational security systems

• Borrowing from the beach, it would prohibit the congregation and consumption of alcohol in parking lots and commercial establishments.

Panama City Police Chief Mark Smith summarized what his department experienced during the weekend. Smith said he was motivated to put together the presentation after how long it took to disperse the unruly and armed crowds Friday and Saturday night.

“The change is something that we had to discuss because as the board realizes, I have little to no teeth as the police chief or as a law enforcement agency to clearly be able to address beyond public safety,” Smith said. “And when we're looking at what's going on, it forces us to become more reactive, where we need to be proactive.”

Smith's presentation revealed scenes of hundreds of peoples packed outside of clubs creating fire hazards, illegal guns taken off the street and illegal drugs seized from dozens of people. PCPD officers made 34 arrests and seized 11 firearms, accounting for almost 613 hours of work for officers. Panama City Beach officers and Bay County Sheriff's Office deputies made an additional 127 arrests during the chaos.

Smith said this past weekend could have been much worse, luckily resulting in no deaths. He said he fully supports this ordinance change.

“The law enforcement agencies have come together and we're working in unison. I think the county and city commissions across the county should come together and try to put together an ordinance in line with each other on their hours of operation,” Smith said. “That would be a big help. There are some things that they're looking at to add to ours that will help establish the partnership between those late-night establishments that want to stay open between 2 (a.m.) and 4 (a.m.) with the police department.”

Opposition to alcohol sales hours changes

Not everyone was in support of the changes, however, with everyone who signed up to speak during public participation opposing them. Judd Manuel, owner of Mosey's in downtown Panama City, said his pizza joint doesn’t cater to spring breakers and this would affect the late-night locals.

“I always prided myself in never closing early, even if it wasn't busy. I was dead set that we were going to always be there consistently for those goals,” Manuel said. “Additionally, if I had to close early for March and April, I'd lose 122 hours' worth of sales for two months. That adds up quick for the business and for my staff, you would lose hourly wages and tips for that period.”

Other residents brought forward concerns of how it will affect employees, such as bartenders and wait staff, who rely on working those hours to make money. They also discussed how patrons who work late hours won’t be able to let off steam and go hang out at local establishments after work.

Resident Tho Bishop said while he thanked law enforcement for their work, local government needs to be held more accountable for its failure to provide safety for residents and visitors.

“What this will do will be dramatically to hurt our service industry, who are already suffering from incredible housing costs and gas prices, and what you're going to do is you're going to deprive them of two extra hours to work,” Bishop said. “And you're almost going to deprive the workers on the Beach the ability to enjoy themselves after work. It's a quality of life issue. Our service industry is the bedrock of our economy.”

Hearing out the concerns from residents, commissioners said they understood their concerns and will make tweaks to the ordinance, while working with Smith to make sure he has the ability to do what he needs to do in the future.

Panama City Mayor Greg Brudnicki said he never wants to see a weekend like last weekend again and wants solutions.

“I don't want people inviting people here that they know are going to be a problem, not their problem because they're making a bunch of money,” Brudnicki said. “I don’t want my citizens getting hurt. I don't want my officers to have to run toward gunfire, running toward gunfire like they're in a war.”

The next meeting will be April 12 to take a vote and conduct a public hearing of the ordinance.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach spring break chaos: Alcohol sales hours may be cut