Issue of Beach Booze Ban to Go to City Voters : City Hall: The wording of the proposed ordinance is still up in the air. Meanwhile, an emergency ban on alcohol at the beaches is made permanent.

Resurrecting the prospects for a total booze ban at San Diego beaches, the City Council on Monday scheduled a June, 1992, referendum on a yet-to-be-enacted ordinance prohibiting alcohol consumption at the water’s edge.

The referendum would place the question of alcohol limits before voters at the next citywide election, saving the city the cost of a special election on the controversial question.

In a separate, largely procedural, vote, the council made permanent an emergency measure passed last month that extended the nighttime ban on drinking at most city beaches and imposed a 24-hour booze ban at selected beaches, boardwalks and parks. Mayor Maureen O’Connor was the lone dissenter in the 7-1 vote, with Councilman John Hartley absent.

O’Connor joined the rest of the council in an 8-0 vote for the referendum that signaled the council’s intention to ask for a citywide vote on a booze ban at city beaches and parks similar to the one it was forced to rescind in May. The repeal came after a citizens’ group collected nearly 30,000 signatures on petitions opposing the plan.

But Monday’s resolution left the council free to work on the provisions and wording of that ordinance.

“Shame on you for letting yourselves feel you’re above the law, when you were elected to uphold the law,” said Linda Jo Hardison, a leader of People to Ban the Ban. “Your intention is to force your will upon the people.”

The group, largely financed by beer distributors, has threatened to sue the council over the emergency regulations, claiming that they are similar to the very ordinance repealed after the successful signature-gathering campaign.

But, with the exception of O’Connor, who has consistently sided with opponents of the ban, council members appeared determined to press forward with stricter curbs on alcohol consumption. Several were enthusiastic about the results of the extended nighttime booze ban and beefed up police presence imposed June 10, after the council was forced to rescind its total ban or shell out $600,000 for a special election on the measure.

Beach-area residents have for years demanded a booze ban in an attempt to rid their neighborhoods of brawls, muggings, break-ins and other crimes they attribute largely to heavy drinking and parties at the beach. Opponents of the ban complain that a crackdown on booze would deprive the responsible majority of the privilege to imbibe because the council has failed to enforce adequate laws already on the books.

As the debate continued, San Diego remained one of the last Southern California communities to allow drinking at the beach.

Under the emergency rules enacted June 10, alcohol is banned from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on beaches stretching from Sunset Cliffs Park to the southern boundary of Torrey Pines State Beach. The 12-hour ban is four hours longer than the limits that had been in effect before the ill-fated total booze ban was enacted.

The existing ordinance also imposes 24-hour bans at La Jolla Shores beach, the Mission Beach boardwalk and the boardwalk adjoining the Ocean Beach Pier. The round-the-clock prohibition also applies to Kellogg Park, Pacific Beach Park, Mission Beach Park, South Mission Beach Park, Ocean Beach Park and North Park.

“What a change,” said Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer, who represents the La Jolla Shores area. “You’ll now find, instead of people brawling on the sand, children playing and families picknicking.”

“Clearly, we’ve seen some changes, and I think they’re for the better,” said Councilman Ron Roberts, who raised the prospect of placing more than one ordinance on the ballot next June 2 to allow city residents a choice.

But O’Connor, who does not drink alcohol, continued her campaign against the ban, saying that the council had simply managed to push booze-related problems several blocks away to other areas such as bayside beaches.

“Have we gotten rid of drinking on the beach? No,” she said. “Are you getting rid of the problem children? No.”