How Many Bars Do We Want In DT HB?
How many alcohol licenses are too many alcohol licenses in our neighborhood?
“Downtown, which covers 1.5% of the city, makes up 11% of the calls the Huntington Beach Police Department responds to”, Small said. “The department also made 900 arrests downtown last year, and more than 600 of them were alcohol and drug related, he said. The small area has 10% of the city’s alcohol licenses in its 2.4 square miles.”
Police Chief Ken Small said at the town hall meeting as reported by the HB Independent March 10th 2010.
That’s 38 alcohol licenses in 2.4 square miles. That’s approximately 2 arrests per day in 2.4 square miles. OUR POLICE CHIEF IS POINTING OUT THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CRIME AND ALCOHOL. What are we going to do to help solve the problem? Are we going to allow more CUPs to be approved and add more bars to this small area? If our collective vision for downtown Huntington Beach includes a strong neighborhood culture and a safe place to live…….do we allow another bar to open up? Do we want a Bourbon Street in HB?
Thanks for this Angela. I’d also like to point out that the Police miss or forgo 1000′s more arrest opportunities in the downtown neighborhoods, business district and on the beach (public drunkenness, vandalism, drunk driving, fights, noise, etc). These statistics are grossly understated based on the actual crimes that take place. The police department does not have the resources to properly staff and handle the existing downtown problems.