The city of Santa Monica plans to designate the Third street Promenade as an open container area.
The goal is to attract more visitors, but some business owners are concerned it’ll do the opposite.
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WATCH HEREThe city hopes this new initiative will revitalize the Third Street Promenade and make it a destination for tourists and people who live in the area.
The “entertainment zone” would create designated spaces to carry open alcohol containers and would allow anyone 21 and older to buy alcoholic beverages from a Promenade business and drink it outdoors between Wilshire and Broadway on the Third street Promenade.
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SIGN UP The rules would require people 21 and older to wear a wristband, alcohol must be in a non-glass or non-metal to go container, and people would need to finish it before entering another business.
John Alle, a business owner and the co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition which represents about 6,000 residents and business owners, said that he is worried this would do more harm than good.
“We don’t think it’s going to bring back the 86 percent of residents who don’t feel safe coming back to the promenade, to dine or shop. They are going elsewhere, South Bay, Culver City, or Century City,” Alle said. “To encourage bars to come to offer these people drinks I think will bring the wrong crowd and will add the wrong atmosphere.”
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Alle also said they’re more concerned with the crime that is hurting businesses and want that to take priority over this proposal.
Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete said she’s hopeful the plan will attract more people to come visit, which is one of many ways they’ll be able to bring back business to the area.
“The summer is often a time where everywhere in Los Angeles activates with open wine gardens, and free concerts with thousands of people, and that hasn’t proven to be a problem that we are aware of, there’s other communities that do this across the state, not in California,” Negrete said. “So I say we have to give it a chance that’s why we are being extremely trepidatious and rolling it out slowly.”
The current proposal planned for this to operate from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. but the mayor said they are still deciding on the exact hours and days it will go into effect.
