Alcohol retailers doubt proposed alcohol impact area’s true impact
The city of Vancouver doesn’t appear to view its proposed alcohol impact area as the magic bullet that will rid the city of drunken loiterers, and neither do several local alcohol distributors.
The Vancouver City Council may ask the state to establish such an area to combat public drunkenness and the problems associated with it.
The city hasn’t specified which areas would be part of the zone, but is eyeing downtown and the Fourth Plain Boulevard corridor east of Interstate 5 to the Andresen Road area. Preliminary research by the Vancouver Police Department showed high crime rates associated with chronic alcoholism there, said Jan Bader, the city’s program and policy development manager.
The Washington State Liquor Control Board created rules in 1999 allowing cities to create the areas that restrict retailers from selling certain types of alcohol offered in large quantities for off-premises drinking, restrict the hours alcohol can be sold for off-premises drinking and require a longer review period for new liquor licenses.
Several businesses within the targeted areas said they didn’t think such a ban would have much of an impact.
"They’re bums," said Jesse Farnsworth, the manager at the Minit Mart #9 at Fourth Plain Boulevard and N.W. Fruit Valley Road, which has a large red "No Loitering" sign plastered on the front. "I’d do it myself if I thought it would have any affect."
The market is a hotspot for homeless people, said Farnsworth, who has managed the store for six years and doesn’t have much trouble telling people to move on. It is the city’s job to solve the problem, he said, but an AIA probably isn’t it.
"It might just push them somewhere else," said Farnsworth, who said he is not unsympathetic to homelessness.
Pushing the problem elsewhere is also a worry for Bader.
"(The AIA) is a little piece to the puzzle, not a fix-all," she said.
To add more pieces to the puzzle, the Vancouver Police Department added a downtown response team, whose job it is to work on problems with public drinking. The county has opened more treatment beds and has more treatment programs in the pipeline, Bader said.
"We want to deal with the addiction, not push the problem somewhere else," she said.
Farnsworth recommended offering education opportunities to the homeless population as a better alternative.
Diana Johnston, a clerk of 18 years at Day & Nite Market on Sixth and Washington streets, said she would support the AIA but that the concept is nothing new to the store that sits in the heart of downtown.
"We’ve been doing it for years," she said.
The market took fortified wines and 40-ouncers of beer off of its shelves 10 years ago.
"They drew in the wrong kind of people," she said.
The store’s actions helped a bit, along with the police department’s addition of bike patrols in the area to keep loiterers off the corner, Johnston said.
"It’s not like it used to be down here," she said. "Downtown has cleaned up a lot, and we still have a few problems now and then, but it’s nothing like it used to be."
Johnston said recently she’s heard people saying the problem is linked to stores selling highly alcoholic beverages.
When several condominiums moved into the area and Esther Short Park got its face lift, the market’s alcohol selection was upgraded. The shelves are now full of microbrews and nice wines. The impact on the business will be minimal, she said.
"It’s not our problem," she added. "We don’t sell it and we’re careful who we sell to, so it’s not us."
The city is in the midst of assembling a task force to explore the issue that will include members of the retail community, representatives of the state Liquor Control Board, emergency services, service providers and neighborhood associations.
The impact area could be up and running in about 18 months, Bader said.
An AIA is not a blanket ban on all beers with high alcohol content or those sold in large containers. The state Liquor Control Board requires a list of which alcoholic beverages are banned, by name. It will likely include fortified wines and low-cost beer in large containers, Bader said.
If adopted, Vancouver will be the fourth city in Washington to have an alcohol impact area in place, after Tacoma, Seattle and Spokane.
In Seattle’s two most recent alcohol impact areas, adopted in August, 29 alcohol products were banned, including Colt 45 Malt Liquor, Keystone Ice, Old Milwaukee Ice, Olde English 800, Rainier Ale, Steel Reserve, Cisco wine, MD 20/20 wine, Night Train Express and Thunderbird. The majority on the list are found at most convenience stores that sell alcohol in Vancouver.
One business that is not behind the proposed AIA is one whose wares most likely won’t be affected at all, Vancouver Gift and Wine Cellar, across from Esther Short Park.
"In a nutshell, we have enough laws on the books right now, so we should be enforcing the ones we have right now instead of writing new ones," said owner Lynda Elstead. "(People are) not supposed to drink on the street, do drugs on the street. Enforce that first and we’ll see where it goes."
Shopkeepers ask panhandlers loitering to move on, and has never had a problem, she said, adding that Vancouver’s problem pales in comparison to that of other large cities.
Bader said negative response has been sparse, and is far outweighed by those who are ready to see the regulations in place.
Pam Mayhew, a longtime cashier at Space Age 4th Plain Grocery, 3405 Fourth Plain Blvd., isn’t against the proposal, but had doubts about its impact on the problem and on business.
"They’ll find another way to get it, regardless," she said. The store doesn’t have many loiterers, but Meyhew said it should be up to the stores, not the city, to control drunks.
"If (store owners and employees) let panhandlers hang around to get money to buy beer at the store, they’re responsible," she said.
The city has been talking with a consultant who worked with two of the cities in setting up their impact areas. He is not yet under contract, but it is the intention to work with someone who has been through the process, Bader said.
Along with its AIAs, the city of Seattle is encouraging merchants and citizens to skip giving money to panhandlers, opting instead to donate the money to agencies that work to wipe out the problem. Bader said Vancouver may explore the tactic.
Farnsworth said it’s a nice notion.
"But people have to see movement," he said. "If we don’t see something happen, we won’t donate. I’d love to see something happen here. After six years, I’ve gotten to know some of these guys. Some are good people."
