PANAMA CITY BEACH — Owners of businesses that cater to spring breakers told the Panama City Beach City Council on Wednesday that a proposed ordinance they are considering to regulate special events will hurt business.
The council held a two-hour workshop on Wednesday to talk to club owners, hoteliers and restaurant owners and other Spring Break-related businesses about the proposed ordinance, scheduled for a final vote Thursday.
Sparky Sparkman, owner of Spinnaker Beach Club, said the council, which is considering the ordinance as one of 16 measures to tone down the coming Spring Break, is trying to eliminate all potential for injuries during Spring Break, which is not going to happen.
--- POLITICAL SIGN ORDINANCE PROMPTS NAME-CALLING»»
He said there are inherent risks in life.
“I could walk into an 18-wheeler when I walk outside,” he said.
Sparkman said it seems the council is trying to eliminate Spring Break in response to an unflattering Fox News report about it.
“I’m inclined to feel that this is where this is going,” he said.
He said the Fox News Sean Hannity report has created a “lot of knee jerking” (reactions).
Several business owners said the proposed ordinance could deter corporate sponsors from bringing events to Panama City Beach. They urged the council not to adopt the ordinance
“Corporate sponsors are important,” Sparkman said. “Take those away and it’s a big void to fill.”
The special event ordinance would require people organizing beach events with 500 or more people with an elevated platform and amplified music to provide security, emergency medical personnel and fencing. The ordinance limits the number of these events that could be held in a given day.
The ordinance would limit the number of special events on the beach to six daily regardless of attendance, or one a day that attracted 10,000 people, or multiple beach events with an attendance of 15,000 with no single event attracting more than 2,500 people.
City Councilman John Reichard said the city is not trying to kill Spring Break.
“We’ve been pushed into a corner,” he said, referring to pressure from law enforcement.
The council is adopting Spring Break ordinances that were recommended by the sheriff and supported by Police Chief Drew Whitman.
Eric Hoover, who handles promotions for Spinnaker Beach Club, said the proposed fencing requirement will decrease corporate sponsorship and decrease beachside entertainment options for spring breakers. He was among several business owners who said it’s better for the spring breakers to be on the beach being entertained at special events instead of wandering throughout the island.
“If you put in a fence, those kids are not going to come through here,” he said. “It is not going to be as free flowing as it has been.”
The proposed ordinance requires the event be enclosed on all sides by fences or other structures “adequate to prevent access to the event at any point other than controlled access gates, but also demonstrating adequate egress facilities and routes to clear the event area in case of an emergency.”
The opaque fences or other structures must be a minimum of 6-foot high. Instead of the 6-foot-tall fence on the gulf side, two 4-feet high fences parallel to the gulf 10 feet apart can be substituted.
Hoover and other business owners said there are ways to tone down and make Spring Break safer instead of adopting the special events ordinance, measures such as an ordinance regulating coolers on the beach. He said there is the same feel in Panama City Beach with all the new Spring Break regulations as what happened previously in Daytona Beach, where he used to promote events.
“Guess what? The kids left (Daytona). They’ll leave here too,” he said.
City Councilman Keith Curry said many of the businesses are responsible when it comes to security, but “we’ve just got to weed out the bad elements.”
“I like the ordinance as it is written with the amendments,” he said. “Let’s see. I hear a lot of fear coming out of a lot of people’s mouths and we haven’t even tried this.”
Reichard said he is concerned that the ordinance could cause corporate sponsors to back off of Spring Break events.
--- POLITICAL SIGN ORDINANCE PROMPTS NAME-CALLING»»
“I wish we could find a way to not hamstring the corporate sponsors, because I think they are obviously good for the economy but offer something more for the spring breakers to do that is not counterproductive,” he said.
Mayor Gayle Oberst said after the meeting that the city needs to do something to regulate the special events.
“Control is extremely important, and it’s hard to maintain when you have that large a number of people,” she said. “But I don’t know that this is exactly what we need to do. It may be that we need to fine tune it some more.”