Urban Wildlife Management Plan
|
Proposed City Action Plan to Reduce Overconsumption of Alcohol in the CommunityWhat's Happening Now?City Council authorized city staff to move forward with the proposed action plan to reduce community impacts from overconsumption of alcohol at a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Specifically, this includes implementing or developing options for the following key elements: • Enhance data sharing across city departments; View a summary table of the proposed action plan items and next steps. As implementation proceeds, additional information will be posted as part of the public review process for action items related to new land use definitions, 500-foot rule and late-night business licenses. • Staff memorandum to City Council (Feb. 19, 2013 - Agenda Item 5A) BackgroundOn Oct. 19, 2004, City Council adopted Resolution 960 - A Resolution Concerning Alcohol Abuse in our Community. Council recognizes that the city can influence alcohol consumption through beverage licensing policies, code enforcement, and zoning and land use regulations, among other methods. In addition to legal options, human services, community education programs, and partnerships with other institutions and agencies are also important tactics. Since adopting Resolution 960, city staff has met with City Council on a number of occasions to discuss how to reduce overconsumption of alcohol in Boulder. The most recent discussion occurred on Aug. 21, 2012. The memorandum to City Council and a video link to the discussion are provided below: • Staff memorandum to City Council (Aug. 21, 2012 - Agenda Item 6C) At the Aug. 21, 2012 discussion, City Council directed staff to provide more information about the implications of the proposed regulatory options, conduct additional public outreach, reconvene the community working group (an ad-hoc group of stakeholders), and provide more research studies about the issues. Multifaceted ApproachAddressing the impacts of alcohol overconsumption requires a holistic, multifaceted approach to the behavior and choices that individuals make related to alcohol. The graphic below shows some of the stakeholder agencies and influences on an individual with respect to alcohol consumption, including but not limited to the Boulder Police, University of Colorado, house party hosts, the Beverage Licensing Authority (BLA), planning and zoning regulations, education, the Responsible Hospitality Group (RHG), and license holders (establishments that sell alcohol).
Public OutreachSince the Aug. 21 meeting with City Council, staff presented the potential land use and licensing code change options to several boards, discussed with neighborhood representatives, and reconvened the Community Working Group, which is composed of different stakeholders throughout the community. The comments of each of these groups are summarized in the Feb. 19, 2013 staff memorandum (Attachment D). This section focuses on the community working group, online survey that was completed in late 2012, and additional comments that were received in February 2013. Community Working Group Although the group did not achieve consensus on all of the issues discussed, the group agreed on the majority of the issues and prepared a Community Working Group report with specific recommendations for City Council. Survey
Additional public comments received
ResearchThere are numerous studies related to overconsumption of alcohol and how to address it in communities. The city has researched a number of sources, including studies prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Housing and Human Services (HHS), the Journal of American College Health, and by universities such as the University of Nebraska and Harvard. The studies focus on the problem of overconsumption of alcohol and the need to take action. Many of the studies attempt to dispel misperceptions about alcohol consumption, while others focus on solutions to decrease overconsumption of alcohol. Most of the studies indicate that communities that have more lenient policies or actions towards alcohol consumption tend to have higher instances of alcohol abuse and a culture of overconsumption, as compared to communities that use a variety of methods to decrease access to alcohol and attempt to change cultures that may encourage or not suppress irresponsible drinking. While there is an identified correlation between alcohol outlet density and alcohol consumption, no studies were found that specifically showcased the results of a community that adopted stricter land use standards having a marked drop in alcohol consumption as a result.
|
Alcohol Land Use Survey Results