By Torre Peña
After listening to emotional appeals from frustrated residents, the Saratoga City Council decided to consider an ordinance that would ban alcohol in El Quito Park except with a special permit.
On Sept. 10, the City Council discussed law enforcement concerning the use of alcoholic beverages in the city's parks. The discussion focused on El Quito Park, located in a residential area by Cox Avenue and Paseo Presada, where a recent rash of alcohol-related problems has occurred.
Neighbors of El Quito Park who attended the meeting voiced concerns about alcohol abuse in the park. They said the problem stems from one specific group of non-residents from surrounding cities that has gathered there on Mondays for the past several years. They said the group comes to the park to play volleyball and drink beer. Sometimes numbering as many as 60 people, the party starts at about noon and goes until dark.
Many other cities ban alcohol in their parks, and residents claim the group takes advantage of Saratoga's liberal drinking laws.
Speaking before the council, Capt. Robert Wilson of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Westside Station said there are no major vandalism problems at the park."We have not received the number of complaints I would expect to receive in a situation like this," Wilson said.
But Wilson said that enforcement is difficult because people tend to sober up and have time to conceal their activities when confronted by a sheriff's deputy pulling up in a patrol car. Since alcohol is legal in the park, he said, there is little the deputies can do.
When allowed to address the council, 12 residents seized the opportunity, asserting that loud music, gambling, vandalism of the community garden, public urination and litter accompany the abuse of alcohol.
"More recently the group has grown and become more raucous, and the intimidation is very real. I'm a runner, and I don't go through the park anymore," Linda Stanley, an Adopt-a-Park volunteer, said.
Councilwoman Ann Marie Burger said she witnessed a problem at the park when she arrived there on Mon., Aug. 12.
"What I observed were about 50 to 60 people and a lot of drinking," she said. "I was amazed by the amount of litter, and they were gambling." After visiting the park, she said, she contacted the sheriff's department.
Angered by what they called a lack of response from the city, 41 residents signed a petition to ban alcohol at the park without exception and presented it to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The petition was circulated July 4 when the same Monday night revelers, whose numbers swelled to more than 100, dominated the park and caused other park users to leave. In the petition, the citizens stated concern over child safety resulting from broken glass in the area after the bouts of heavy drinking.
"You go to the Public Safety Commission and to the city and nothing happens," Preston Burlingham, a community gardener, said. Burlingham said his city plot has been ravaged on Monday nights for the past three years.
In the wake of citizen action, the Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed the alcohol policy at El Quito Park and voted on Aug. 5 to recommend that the City Council enact an ordinance that prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the park.
Currently, there is no policy prohibiting alcohol in any of the city's parks, with the exception of Wildwood Park, where alcohol is permitted only on weekends. During the week, a special city permit is needed.
The council passed a motion to introduce an ordinance at the Sept. 18 meeting that bans alcohol in the park seven days a week unless a special permit is obtained from the city. If passed, the ordinance would also create a two-tier fee system, charging more for permits issued to non-residents.
Despite the motion, Capt. Wilson was not convinced that a ban on alcohol would solve the problem.
"I don't think prohibition of alcohol in the park is the answer," he cautioned. "We need to address the specific issue.
"I have to be honest with the council. They are going to ask if there is another park they can drink at in Saratoga, and I'll have to tell them yes," he said.
Wilson added that an alcohol ban restricts responsible drinkers from alcohol privileges in the park, and the council was reluctant to consider a citywide ban of alcohol in public parks.
Although the motion was a small victory, many residents of the El Quito Park area hoped for a complete ban of alcohol in the park.
"This is the furthest we've come so far, and half a cake is better than no cake," said Burlingham.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 18, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved