The overall beer market in the U.S. brings in $111.4 billion with continued increases in imported, exported + craft beer. Craft beer alone, accounts for over 23% of the market. And in case you were wondering, Florida produced 1,408,032 barrels of craft beer in 2017 in its 243 operating craft breweries.

Last week we reached out to local bars and breweries and asked what their thoughts were on beer laws.

A repeated response?

Limits of the three-tier system. It would be easier on bars to purchase beer directly from breweries instead of a distributor and for breweries to sell beer directly to bars, eliminating the middleman and giving bars access to more beer selections. It would also eliminate extra delivery costs, not requiring additional product costs. And did I mention, signing with a distributor is a lifetime contract? This puts a lot of responsibility on a distributor to represent a brewery well + sell their product.

Another topic that came up was public drinking.

The talk started back in June when Lakeland Commissioner Michael Dunn proposed to allow consumption of alcoholic beverages on public property in the downtown area.

The pros?
Bar hopping. Also, people wouldn’t need to chug their beverage if friends were ready to leave. It’s a more responsible option.

The cons?
More human waste + trash. Executive Director of Lakeland Downtown Development Julie Townsend also mentioned this would be a financial cost, not benefitting participating bars + restaurants.

The proposal had to go through the commission for further approval. Fast forward to August for the open container review. The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority (LDDA) opposed the proposal for the following reasons:

Downtown Lakeland doesn’t have enough police presence to monitor carried container limits + quantities or enough cleaning capacity to address trash + human waste on public and business owner property.
The City does not protect businesses from liability involved with potential risks associated with customers and also puts family-friendly events at risk.

Most restaurants and bars opposed the proposal due to the following reasons:

Additional staffing costs would be necessary at points of entry if customers came in with alcohol from other establishments.
There is concern for customers to drink alcohol brought from home on public property.
If approved, all bars + restaurants would need to have the same rules.

How do other cities do it? Glad you asked.

Tampa created a Legislature approved “specialty center” where an outlined geographic location has an open container ordinance but with a particular cup, during specific hours + with a limit on how much one can carry. The “specialty center” has only eight businesses, none of which are bars, and is placed along the Riverwalk, away from office and retail space.

New Orleans simply bypasses the no drinking and driving law at their drive-thru daiquiri shops by not inserting straws into cups. The rest is up to the driver. Savannah only permits customers to carry open drinks within the parameters of the historic district in plastic cups of 16 oz or less.

With changes to the open container ordinance, additional expenses, safety + education must be involved. More responsibility is placed on the city, businesses + citizens alike.

So tell us your thoughts. Should any form of carrying open drinks come to Lakeland?

Don’t leave me wondering,

- Jessica