Bossier's open container proposal fails

Residents will not be able to drink alcohol in public spaces within the downtown Bossier City and Boardwalk area after the Bossier City Council on Tuesday failed to approve an amendment to the city’s public drinking law.

The proposed motion would have made it legal for residents to consume alcohol from designated containers on public streets and sidewalks within a specified area, which begins at Bennett Street in between Coleman Street and Barksdale Boulevard, extending west and then north to include Boardwalk Boulevard and Margaritaville Way, all the way up to Bacon Street.

According to the ordinance proposing the amendment, part of the reason for suggesting the open container provision was in anticipation of possible festivities and activities that will take place in the newly-renovated area downtown, which celebrated its grand opening on Nov. 25.

Louisiana Boardwalk General Manager Bill McFadden spoke in favor of the ordinance at several council meetings, saying that it could be a huge business generator for the Boardwalk.

MORE: Public drinking debate continues in Bossier City

“On any given day we probably turn around 10-15 people at least just from Margaritaville with a drink in their hand,” McFadden said. “They either have to dispose of the drink or they have to go back to Margaritaville. Those are customers I don’t want to turn away.”

Ben Hart, co-owner of Flying Heart Brewing in the East Bank District on Barksdale Boulevard, also implored the council to move forward with the amendment at a previous council meeting.

“As a proprietor of alcohol in that area, and conversing with a lot of other people that are potential occupants in buying up that property that has been downtrodden for many years, this is integral to what we want to do,” Hart said at the Nov. 7 meeting. “Let’s find a way to make it work, if we need to make some changes, let’s make some changes, but let’s not throw it out and make all these changes to the East Bank District and have it stay vacant, have nobody down there, and that’s what’s going to happen.”

Council President Jeffery Darby said he was concerned because the council was told by Bossier City Police Chief Shane McWilliams that more police officers would need to be hired to handle covering the area.

“My concern remains the same as last time, police staffing, the mixture of persons who may become intoxicated in public walkways or right of ways, and having enough coverage of law enforcement folks to handle that,” Darby said at the council’s Nov. 21 meeting. “I like being safe, I like for my family to be safe. When I think about someone having alcohol in open areas like that, it bothers me personally.”

The only council members to vote yes on the ordinance Tuesday were David Montgomery and Scott Irwin. Timothy Larkin was absent.