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TO:

Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council

FROM:

Dean Smith, Police Chief

DATE:

November 12, 2024

SUBJECT:

Ord 24-582 Create Temporary Ordinance Prohibiting Alcohol in City Parks (Staff Recommends Waiving the Rules and Adopting on First Reading)

BACKGROUND

The City of Oshkosh does not currently prohibit the consumption of alcohol beverages in city parks and has taken steps in recent years to expand the ability to consume alcohol beverages in the city’s downtown area during certain limited times and with certain conditions through the adoption of a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA). The Common Council through the DORA has, through March 31, 2025, permitted the carrying of open containers and consumption of alcoholic beverages within the city’s North Main Street downtown area on Wednesday through Saturday evenings and on Saturday afternoons. While for the most part the DORA has resulted in minimal additional enforcement and concern in the downtown area, there have been incidents related to the consumption of alcohol beverages, particularly within the Opera House Square Park area, where intoxicated persons have either violated or attempted to violate other ordinances of the City of Oshkosh.

Due to the increase in these incidents, businesses in the downtown area and representatives of the Downtown Oshkosh Business Improvement District (BID) have approached the city with concerns pertaining to the unregulated consumption of alcohol beverages within the parks within the downtown area.

Staff reviewed the complaints and incidents that have occurred and recommends that action be taken to limit the consumption of alcohol in and around Grand Opera House Park. In addition, staff is concerned that regulating alcohol beverage consumption in a single or certain parks while prohibiting it in others may simply drive the problem from one public location to another. To that end, staff is recommending a temporary prohibition of alcohol beverages at all parks to address the current problems as well as to allow the city to evaluate the effectiveness of this measure and to identify other potential longer-term solutions.

While staff supports the prohibition of uncontrolled use of alcohol beverages within the city parks, staff does recommend some limited exceptions for situations with more controlled possession and consumption, specifically in connection with the holiday parade which has already been approved by Council and occurs during the original DORA hours, and in connection with approved Special Events and park facility rentals.

ANALYSIS

Limiting the possession and consumption of alcohol in city parks and in the established DORA district will require two (2) separate actions of the Council: an ordinance to prohibit the possession and consumption of alcohol beverages within city parks and a resolution to modify the approval of the DORA in the downtown area to remove the city parks and the sidewalk area adjacent to Opera House Square Park from the approved areas for carrying and consumption of alcohol.

Staff is proposing limited exceptions for the holiday parade which has already been approved by Council and occurs during the original DORA hours, and in connection with approved Special Events and park facility rentals where staff can work with the organizers to address concerns related to control of possession and consumption.

Staff is requesting waiving the rules to allow for passage of the ordinance upon the first reading to allow all provisions to go into effect at the same time for consistency of communication and education of the public.

Staff is also requesting that the ordinance provision be limited in term to March 31, 2025 and be self-repealing, requiring no further formal action of the Council to repeal at that time.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends waiving of the rules and adopting on first reading the proposed ordinance to temporarily prohibit possession and consumption of alcohol beverages in city parks with the noted exceptions.

Attachments

Ord 24-582