Penticton city council to consider allowing booze on Skaha Lake beach

Penticton residents and visitors may soon have another waterfront park with a beach at which to legally quaff an ale or sip some wine.

City council will consider adding Skaha Park to the list of public places in the city where you can have an alcoholic beverage without worries police or bylaw officers will hand you a ticket.

Skaha Park was one of the locations most frequently suggested by those who filled out a recent City survey.

Earlier this month, councillors voted to allow public alcohol consumption on Okanagan Lake beach.

Staff recommend three children’s play areas in Skaha Park be excluded. Those areas include the nature play area, children’s play equipment and the splash pad, along with a 20-metre buffer around those areas. In an alternative recommendation, staff said council could dedicate a smaller area of the park to open alcohol, but were concerned it could lead to confusion as to which areas are included or not.

City council is also considering a downtown brewery trail with the option of expanding the initiative to Skaha Park but staff are not recommending that concept as it would allow open alcohol on streets connecting downtown breweries. Concerns exist from a licensing perspective regarding people with open alcohol entering another licensed establishment. The report prepared for council also suggested a brewery trail may be a premature concept, given the City’s brewery district is still in its infancy.

Council will consider the recommendation to allow liquor at the park on Skaha Lake at its meeting tomorrow, July 20, and if it's a go, they'll vote on a new bylaw at a special meeting on Thursday, July 23.

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