Put your ear to the ground and you can probably hear the rumbling.
We are two weeks away from once again becoming ground zero for the “get drunk and get loud” party America’s young people have every March. The rumbling you might hear now follows a year’s worth of different sort of rumbling from the Panama City Beach City Council and the city’s business community, law enforcement and locals.
For at least two decades city and county officials seemed content to play lip service to the idea of changing the drug and alcohol induced atmosphere that envelops PCB every March. This year, thanks in part to a series of reports on Fox News, those who wanted changes — a group that includes Sheriff Frank McKeithen and Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman — got them.
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Although they did not get everything they wanted — most notably drinking will still be allowed on the sand in March — Spring Break opponents did get a comprehensive set of new laws through both the City Council and the Bay County Commission.
Those changes regulate everything from riding scooters to digging large holes in the sand.
The most controversial change is the law that will force bar owners to close up at 2 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. in the month of March.
The issue was hotly debated with law enforcement and others claiming they expect it will help them prevent some of the worst tragedies associated with Spring Break with others claiming it will lead to different and possibly worse problems as all of the bars will empty out at the same time every night.
The county, which regulates businesses next to Panama City Beach, wisely approved a similar measure for bars in unincorporated Bay County. That makes sense as the Bay County Commission overseas areas that are immediately adjacent to Panama City Beach.
However, Lynn Haven and Panama City officials both decided to allow their bars to stay open until 4 a.m.
There is a tendency for tourists and outside media organizations to paint all of Bay County with the same brush. You might call it the “Panama” effect; Panama being the word they use to describe much of the county even though Panama City and Panama City Beach are the actual terms.
And, just as there is a tendency to lump us all together there can also be a tendency to try and solve one problem for the whole county even if the issue only exists in one location. The problems associated with Spring Break are very much contained to a relatively small section of Panama City Beach. While spring breakers do stay in motels (and in their cars) on both sides of the bridge the revelry mostly remains at the bars and condos on Front Beach Road and Thomas Drive.
So it makes sense that Panama City and Lynn Haven would choose not to change their laws to deal with a problem they do not currently have. Most of the people getting high on the town in Panama City and Lynn Haven live and work in Panama City and Lynn Haven.
There is a concern from some that when the clubs close at 2 a.m., the breakers will load up en masse and try to find the nearest open bar but we find that difficult to believe. It seems much more likely that they will find a party inside a condo or a hotel or, perhaps, check in for the night. We also suspect that law enforcement officers will be patrolling the city’s bridges and other areas quite heavily to prevent drunk driving and other problems.
And, if some tragedy does occur because a drunk was looking for an open bar, that will not be the fault of any city government or law enforcement agency.
It is (as it always has been) the fault of a driver who foolishly got behind the wheel while intoxicated.
Regardless of what happens in Panama City and Lynn Haven, the new rules in Panama City Beach are a good thing. We believe they are a solid first step toward transforming the area from a place that relies on one tourist clientele for much of its economy and into a place that is more attractive to families and other types of businesses.
It’s long past time for all of our rowdy friends to settle down.