New webpage, signage help navigate Gainesville’s open-container restrictions
Press release from City of Gainesville
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In preparation for the first weekend of the New Year under the City of Gainesville’s new open-container restrictions, the City has launched a dedicated webpage about the changes now in effect.
The online resource, gainesvillefl.gov/sipandstroll, includes frequently asked questions – for both business owners and patrons – as well as maps of the two new “Sip & Stroll Districts,” also known as the arts, culture, and entertainment districts.
Inside district boundaries, between the hours of 8 a.m. and midnight, open containers of alcohol are permitted on public property: on sidewalks, in public parks, or other public rights of way. Although the Downtown parking garage and some public parking lots are located within the districts, new ordinances prohibit open containers in those areas.
The districts are located where there are high concentrations of bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues. The Sip & Stroll District Downtown encompasses 17 city blocks plus Bo Diddley Plaza and Depot Park. The Sip & Stroll District Grove Street is located around a portion of the 6th Street Rail Trail between NW 2nd Street and NW 4th Street.
City staff are providing district maps and window decals to establishments inside district boundaries, and Public Works staff will install signs on streets in the districts where open containers are permitted.
Florida’s legal drinking age and all other applicable state and local laws remain unchanged and in full effect, including prohibitions on open containers in vehicles and laws concerning public intoxication. Gainesville Police Department officers can issue either civil citations or criminal infractions to those found in violation of the ordinances.
Watch the video here.
Per the linked webpage: “Please note, glass containers are always prohibited.”
So beginning at 8am I can walk around downtown with a keg of beer on a dolly but not with a glass of water? Do you government tards truly believe glass containers and plastic straws cause more damage than temperamental drunk people roaming the streets for 16 hours every day?
I’m pretty sure the concern is about temperamental drunk people with glass containers causing more damage than temperamental drunk people with other kinds of containers. This is similar to banning drunk people from driving cars at all, but allowing them to ride bicycles until they do something extra stupid.
I’m sure you could walk around with a personal glass water bottle in these areas without any trouble, as long as you didn’t make a scene about flouting the law. I suspect roaming around downtown with a tapped keg of beer is going to get you a lot more negative attention than walking around with a glass container, whether that adheres to the letter of the law or not. It’s about what drunk people might do with the containers, not the inherent nature of the containers themselves.
Perhaps the law would be better written as “glass containers OF ALCOHOL are always prohibited,” but that would be much more difficult to enforce than simply banning glass containers in areas where people are more likely to be getting drunk.
Welcome to the rule of law. Without it, stupid people do stupid things. With it, otherwise reasonable people do stupid things just to prove a point.
This is about to go way south.
Any good wrongful death attorney needs to be “on call” and “ready”. The COG had a chance to repeal all this, but…….
Somebody is gonna get drunk, most likely a bravo mike, and possibly a juvenile, then pull a gun, and the rest is a future article in the Crime Archives.
The Gainesville City Commissioners should have added some landmarks to the maps, like the three daycare centers located inside the new North Rape & Robbery District.
As a public service to any of our city’s beloved homeless vagrants arriving from out of town: please be sure to stop by Chestnut Funeral Home on 8th Avenue, where they offer free camping, drugs, food, and unlimited booze 24/7. All are welcome, regardless of your criminal record or current addictions. Feel free to knock or just let yourself inside. The good stuff is hidden inside the walls!
Tell them Fat Harvey sent you for a chance to win a free tantric oil massage from Bryan Eastman.
Careful, unless port-a-potties set up within those boundaries there may be some flash flooding.
I know a guy who hauls scrap metal 😂
Right…
And this dude gets used empty 55 gallon drums from time to time, and the guy came up with what he thought to be a brilliant idea.
He thought,,,
What if he cut the top out of one the drums, cleaned them out really clean, and offered “Chestnut Funeral Home” to place the empty drum “outback” near the crematory.
Right !?!?! 👍
Then, all the leftover stainless steel hip joints, and knee joints, etc, they can throw into the drum, and when the drum is full, just call him.
He would then come get the materials, and he would simply split the money from the recycling facility with the guy who filled up the drum.
And then!
What if agreements like this progressed???What if he put a drum “outback” at all the local funeral homes? 🤔
Now, my guy believes he can create both an endless materials stream, with little to no effort, all the while, creating a lucrative revenue stream?
I type all that to say, either the revenue stream would work, or it won’t. If it don’t, then other avenues and opportunities must be entertained and explored.
“Not Exploited”
Now, as morbid, and weird as this storyline is, if you quit laughing long enough to get this far…..
This is not really out of the realms
of how the COG Commission thinks.
I’m just saying.
My guy is a proud local Gainesville resident…..
🤔😋
8am? What possible rationale can there be for this?
The Afternoon does mimosas in the mornings; it gets packed. That’s the “grove street” district.
Weird how some businesses are so good at changing/skirting ordinances. Like when Flacos exercised its imminent domain and turned a public street into closed off outdoor seating.
Same for that Molly dealer who runs Bricks downtown.
Ah, ok, thanks for the info. I’ve never drank alcohol in the morning so didn’t cross my mind.
Stupid law. Alcohol is a toxic poison and encourages stupid behavior.
Feckless city commissioners and city managers should all resign.
No more pay raises, just resign!
May as well add roaming drunks, makes easy picking for the vagrant criminals.
What a trash pile old Gainesville has become. Sad, sad, so called leadership.
The incompetence and stupidity of the city commissioners never fails, time after time. This isn’t New Orleans, with the French Quarter. This is college and homeless town Gainesville. Maybe, instead of so many bars and encouraged drinking, they could open the streets again and allow normal people to experience downtown, in a sane manner.
Let’s wait and see how many homeless drunks and addicts read and follow instructions.
What a waste of time and money. Why do you need a website and guidelines to public consumption. A open container ordinance saying no open open containers of alcohol in public is good enough. The problem I see I’d people have no self responsiblity that consumption of alcohol in public, on sidewalks, streets, parks, etc looks bad, and will always lead to other issues. No one seems to be able to enjoy themselves or function socially without a drink in their hands anymore.
Fine. Law enforcement should be able to stop a person and do a breathalyzer, or make them walk a straight line test, or follow the pencil with the eyes, and if they flunk, the drunk goes to jail. I hate obnoxious drunks!
For all the day drinkers out there…..whoo-hoo! Just what we need for additional public urination!
I saw a group of Frat boys that included underage, drinking on the street last night. How do I know? I recognized one. Are the cops going to card everyone as well? We already have a growing shooting gallery….Let’s fuel the danger with alcohol….brilliant!