As college students across the United Sates venture away from their campuses and homes away from home to celebrate their spring breaks, it is an important time to consider if your municipality is operating under the best laws relating to alcohol consumption and alcohol safety. While many of the regulations to alcohol sale and consumption are set at the state level, there are ample opportunities to set standards at the local level that can benefit those who decide to drink in your community.

The following is a list of resources that highlights thoughtful alcohol-related policies hosted on the Knowledge Network.

• A question from a KN user looking to make changes to his city’s alcoholic beverage policy for possession in a parks and recreation facility yielded information on similar policies that have been enacted across the United States.
• This ordinance from the Documents page offers an example of a codified ordinance for the prohibition of events or gatherings at which alcohol is consumed by or dispensed to minors within a town.
• In a response to a request for information about different policies for licensing businesses for the sale of alcohol, a KN user shared information about Salt Lake City, Utah’s unique requirements for licensing at the local level.
• The City of Berkeley, CA was forced, after a few tragic losses, to confront businesses in their community who were putting citizens at risk. Read this article about their story to learn about their experience.
• Check out this PM article, “A Proactive Approach to Policing Liquor Establishments,” for ideas about how to look after the safety of people visiting bars and restaurants in your community.

Does your community have any novel alcohol-related policies that help it ensure the safety of its residents? If so, I’d love to hear about them! Please share details about it in the comments section below, or post information on the policies to the Knowledge Network’s documents page.

Aloha,

James Davidson

James Davidson is an intern for ICMA’s Knowledge Network. You can reach him for questions and comments at jdavidson@icma.org.