By Donald Wittkowski
City Council gave final approval Tuesday to an ordinance that heightens the security requirements for large special events having 1,000 people or more and also ends the lone exception to Sea Isle City’s alcohol ban on public property.
One of the major requirements in the new ordinance is that organizers must submit an application for a city permit at least 180 days prior to holding their special events, such as concerts, shows and festivals. They will also be required to supply a litany of background information about themselves and the event in the permit application.
All special events already scheduled this year and in 2019 that will be held within the next 180 days will not be affected by the deadline, City Solicitor Paul Baldini said.
The Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization had feared those events would possibly be jeopardized by the 180-day permit deadline, but Baldini said, “Nobody’s disrupted, no one’s harmed by this ordinance.”
Baldini explained that the 180-day requirement will give Sea Isle’s Department of Community Services plenty of time to review the permit to determine if stepped-up security would be needed for a special event.
It would be particularly important for large events having at least 1,000 people. Events of that size will be scrutinized by Sea Isle’s police chief and would also have to comply with any security recommendations from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the ordinance says.
The Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors a series of family-friendly events to draw tourists to town, welcomed the tighter security requirements.
“Everyone wants safety to be the No. 1 concern,” Chamber President Christopher Glancey told Council during a public hearing Tuesday on the ordinance.
Depending on the event, temporary or permanent security measures could be put in place to improve public safety, including metal security barriers to protect people from ramming attacks by a vehicle.
Cars and trucks have been used in a series of deadly terror attacks in the United States, Canada and Europe. A car ramming attack against bicyclists and pedestrians outside the British Parliament in London on Tuesday was being treated as a terror incident, although there were no deaths or life-threatening injuries reported.
The new ordinance will also end the lone exemption to the citywide alcohol ban on all public property and in all public buildings in Sea Isle.
An exception previously had been carved out for Excursion Park, the seaside venue that serves as the city’s main hub for concerts, shows, festivals and other special events. But the new ordinance now includes Excursion Park with the myriad other public sites where alcohol is prohibited.
Before, there were limited circumstances where alcohol was allowed in Excursion Park. Only nonprofit organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, were allowed to serve alcohol during special events in Excursion Park if they had a city permit.
The Chamber has not held a special event in Excursion Park that included alcohol for the past five or six years, so the exemption was rarely used, city officials noted.
“It’s not a detriment to us,” Glancey said of any impact on the Chamber from the alcohol ban.
Police Chief Tom McQuillen told Council that a full, citywide alcohol ban on public property fits in with his department’s strategy to crack down on illegal drinking in popular areas, such as the Promenade and the beaches.
Councilman William Kehner suggested allowing nonprofit organizations to apply for permission to serve alcohol at their special events on public property on a case-by-case basis. The four other Council members did not accept Kehner’s proposal.
Kehner, though, did not oppose the ordinance. He sided with the rest of the Council members during the 5-0 vote to approve the measure.
Councilwoman Mary Tighe said the ordinance makes “it clear” there will be an alcohol ban at all special events throughout the city held on public property, including Excursion Park.
