Booze ban favored for Lake Macbride and Pleasant Creek

SOLON — When the thermometer hits 96 as it's forecast to do Saturday in Eastern Iowa, the beach at Lake Macbride gets packed and the alcohol starts flowing.

'It's just nice to come out here and have beer in the sun,' said Chloe Mangan of Iowa City, who was the lake Friday afternoon and echoed the sentiments of some other beachgoers. 'There's not a lot of places you can do that outside near the water.'

That could soon change because of alcohol-fueled incidents at Lake Macbride State Park in Johnson County and at Pleasant Creek State Park near Palo in Linn County, which is closed this year for lake restoration.

Nearly 65 percent of all alcohol-related incidents on state beaches occurred at those two locations, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources data.

This week, the Iowa Natural Resource Commission voted 6-0 for an Iowa DNR-proposed rule change to ban booze — beer, wine and hard liquor — from beaches at Lake Macbride and Pleasant Creek. Of the feedback the agency has taken since floating the idea last year after a rash of incidents, 61 percent of comments, or 765 out of 1,252, support the ban.

'Generally, (it's) a few that ruin it for the rest,' Joe and Joni Moore wrote to the DNR. 'We like to drink, but not so bad that we cannot live without a drink for a few hours while the kids swim. This rule may reduce the number of state park goers, but that is fine, too, as some weekends it is tough to find an open spot at the beach.'

The commission will vote on the matter again, likely in August, before it is final. The rule wouldn't be made into law until September or October after the 2016 swimming season has ended, said Kevin Baskins, a DNR spokesman.

'The sheer number of incidents they've been responding to and safety were the overriding factors for us,' said commission Chairwoman Margo Underwood of Cresco. 'The overwhelming goal for us is for people to enjoy our wonderful state parks safely.'

The public still can comment on the proposal until July 26 by emailing Sherry.Arntzen@dnr.iowa.gov or calling (515) 725-8486.

Reserved rental facilities in a 200-foot buffer area around the sand beaches or fenced-in area would be exempt from the alcohol ban.

The DNR tabulated the number of incidents and citations at 48 state parks and lakes in Iowa, and two-thirds of the 947 incidents at state beaches occurred at Pleasant Creek and Lake Macbride.

Pleasant Creek has had 888 incidents and citations from 2010 to 2015, including 95 involving alcohol, and 427 incidents and citations at the beach, including 90 involving alcohol. The state recreation area also had 254 calls for assistance in that time.

Lake Macbride has had 371 incidents and citations from 2010 to 2015, including 232 involving alcohol, and 222 incidents and citations at the beach, including 221 that involved alcohol. The state park also had 269 calls for assistance in that time.

By comparison, Lake Manawa near Council Bluffs was the only location with more incidents and citations — 1,010 — than Pleasant Creek, and the only place with more calls for assistance — 783 — than Lake Macbride. However, only 118 incidents at Laka Manawa involved alcohol and only 11 occurred at the beach.

The agency enacted restrictions to curb alcohol abuse, including closing the Lake Macbride and Pleasant Creek beaches at 6 p.m., compared with 10:30 p.m., in mid-2015 and also signed an agreement with local law enforcement to provide scheduled backup assistance. Those changes remain.

'Combined, these two efforts did have a positive impact on the number of arrests, citations, and verbal warnings issued at these beaches,' Todd Coffelt, a state parks bureau chief for the Iowa DNR, stated in an agency memo. 'However, the early closing time has been very unpopular with park users, especially with those who would like to visit these beaches after getting off of work and with overnight campers.'

But if the ban is approved, the early closing will cease.

North Liberty police Chief Diane Venenga said her agency has been called for assistance only a handful of times, the last of which was a fight in progress in 2014.

In Linn County, there was a period deputies were called to Pleasant Creek more frequently than usual, prompting a contract for extra law enforcement help.

Friday was one of the first truly hot days of the year, and Lake Macbride was packed, said Park Ranger Nicholas Rocca.

Rocca and his team were busy checking IDs and ensuring no one had glass bottles, and then closing the beach at 6 p.m., even as the sun still blazed. A couple dozen people stopped by later only to find a locked gate.

Closing early like this has helped, he said, but he supports an alcohol ban.

'As long as there's alcohol on the beaches and people are drinking all day, they won't be able to control their actions,' Rocca said.