By Camas Frank

In a unanimous decision, the SLO City Council on April 19 opted not to pursue a new program that would have mandated registration of beer kegs sold in the City.

The suggestion to enact such a program was presented almost a year ago in the “Neighborhood Wellness Community Civility Report,” as one of the recommendations from a community taskforce subcommittee.

Neighborhood Outreach Manager, Christine Wallace, recommended against the program in her staff report. Mayor Jan Marx said the process was a good example of the Council hearing out all points presented by its volunteer committees, even if they aren’t enacted.

The State of California is already one of 29 states that requires some type of registration through its Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, but the idea in putting forward another layer of regulation would have been to further crack down on underage drinking at college parties.

A City commissioned survey of Cal Poly and Cuesta College students showed 70% of respondents reported attending off-campus house parties with kegs present.

The numbers from that source are contradicted by anecdotal evidence however, as Wallace noted patrol officers report smaller gatherings with bottles and cans of alcohol since the implementation of an unruly gathering ordinance cracked down on large parties.

Likewise business owners for the three most notable suppliers of kegs reported average sales of between 10-15 a week, with the majority going towards gatherings of older adults.

Older adults are also more likely to be able to afford a keg of good beer for a bash.

With their original goals, and target demographic in mind, the neighborhood wellness staff proposed to Council that they instead focus on education and enforcing existing City ordinances. That includes working with Cal Poly during new student orientations and reinforcing an “Awake Aware Alive” campaign to help young people combat alcohol poisoning when they see it.

A full list of the May 2015 Neighborhood Civility Recommendations can be found online at the City’s website, see: opengov.slocity.org/weblink8/1/doc/35917/Page1.aspx.