Ian Bobby loves beer. He also loves Trinity Bellwoods Park. When the two come together, they make for a glorious summer day.

But Ian and others like him are in for a giant buzz kill as the city and police prepare to crack down on alcohol consumption in the popular west-end public area.

“I just find it so silly,” said the 30-year-old, swigging from a beer can while sitting in the park’s grassy field. “Now people have to be nervous about sitting down and having a drink with their buddies.”

A rise in neighbourhood complaints about alcohol use in Trinity Bellwoods has prompted officials to develop a strategy to curb unruly behaviour in the park. More police and bylaw officers will be patrolling the area later this month.

The initiative is part of “Project Green Glasses,” a new strategy by police to enforce liquor laws in several public parks, including Bellevue Square Park in Kensington Market. In Toronto, drinking in public can earn one a $125 fine.

“We want the regular folks of the neighbourhood to be able to use these parks,” said Sgt. Ralph Brookes of 14 Division. “Making the park a favourite destination for children and families is a huge issue. There are summer camp programs in the park. There’s a wading pool in there.”

Brookes said complaints about drinking at Trinity Bellwoods have been pouring in since May. “It’s when people go overboard about it that it becomes a real problem. It’s the ones who want to camp out and get really silly …. They end up using the park as a public washroom.”

Youths who regularly imbibe in the park are livid about the new party-pooping strategy.

“I’ve drank millions of beers in Trinity Bellwoods Park,” said local musician Eamon McGrath, 24. “And I still went to university. I can hold down a job. I’m not a delinquent. It’s not a problem. One of the best things about Toronto in the summer was being able to go to Bellwoods and drink.”

Ward 19 Councillor Mike Layton, who has also received many complaints about the issue, is holding a community meeting on Thursday with residents, city staff and police to discuss boozing in the park.

“We’ve got a really busy, great, important park in our downtown core that’s visited by dozens of people every weekend,” said Layton. “We also have it in a dense downtown neighbourhood that’s surrounded by thousands of residents who visit the park as well …. You don’t want one group to enjoy it at the (expense) of another.”

Poll

Local resident Melissa Kwan, who frequents the park with her 10-month-old son, thinks the crackdown is a positive thing.

“My neighbours come here with their families,” said the 32-year-old. “If people are drinking excessively, they start to act silly and stupid. You don’t want that around your children.”

Bobby, meanwhile, is devising more covert methods for carousing in public.

“Just take a Subway cup, put your beer in it, fill it with ice and pop a straw on top,” he said. “It’s not going to stop drinking in the park at all. It’s just going to make people clever and trust the cops less.”

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