Alcohol ban at park worries nearby shops

State policy new for Pt. Lookout

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Ridge business owners met with the secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on Friday to talk about how the ban may reduce the number of visitors to Point Lookout State Park.

General alcohol use in state parks was banned on March 31. A permit is now required. Come Nov. 1, alcohol will be banned in general areas and campgrounds, and will be allowed only at full-service cabins. "We want to be good corporate neighbors, we do," said Secretary John Griffin.

The ban on alcohol will "create, maintain a family friendly environment," said Maj. Chris Bushman, deputy superintendent of the Natural Resources Police.

"It will change the kind of folks coming down here," said Bob Schaller, director of St. Mary's County Department of Economic and Community Development.

Bob Morehouse, a local farmer, said, "Don't you think family people drink? This is going to keep people away." He said he is not a drinker, but was concerned the ban would hurt local businesses.

Bushman said more people have complained about alcohol-induced bad behavior at parks than those complaining about the ban on alcohol. "We were basically the oasis for people who wanted to drink in a park," he said.

"Let's see what happens in visitation patterns. Time will tell," Griffin said.

"If someone's disruptive, kick 'em out," Morehouse said. "Drinking isn't illegal."

"Drinking in public is. That is the standard," Bushman said. "Citizens don't want you to sit back and wait for a crime to occur."

Donnie Tennyson, owner of a Ridge hardware store, said since the admission gate to Point Lookout was moved farther up, "the locals do not just come down anymore. We don't get the local traffic coming through. I refuse to pay just to watch the sunset. If you want to lock me up, do it."

"We do allow drive-throughs," said Christy Bright, park manager, for free except on holiday weekends and when the park is full. "It's an honor system when the booth is not open," she said. In the summer, the entrance charge is $5 per person, $6 for those from out of state.

Tennyson also said Gov. Martin O'Malley advocated drinking at parks when he was photographed at the county public landing at St. Inigoes after the Maryland Day celebration in March.

"He's the governor. He can have a Guinness," Griffin said. The beer O'Malley was drinking was actually a microbrew called 1634 Ale.

As the conversation turned to the growing deer population in the state, Griffin said he doesn't welcome having the state manage deer hunting on extra acreage at Elms Beach Park on the Chesapeake Bay.

The St. Mary's County commissioners and board of education recently agreed to allow bow hunting on an extra 85 acres near the Elms Environmental Center, where students come to learn about the Chesapeake Bay habitat.

Some hunters complained they were slowly being pushed off their portion of the state land. The county leases 476 acres of the 1,002 acres, and hunting is allowed on most of the state property.

Griffin said the extra 85 acres near the education center was "pushing the envelope too much." He said there are more than 4,000 acres of state land in St. Mary's County that are available for deer hunters, excluding recent purchases at Kitts Point in St. Inigoes and Newtowne Neck in Compton.

Echoing concerns from Commissioner Larry Jarboe (R), Sen. Roy Dyson (D-St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles) said the number of deer is the cause of more Lyme disease. "We have seen the number of Lyme disease double and triple" in Maryland and Virginia, he said. "It's an incredible problem."

jbabcock@somdnews.com