Sunset Beach in front of Caddy's restaurant during a quiet late afternoon on a weekday.
As a result of rowdy behavior, including, according to the St. Pete Times, “underage drinking, drug possession, drunken driving, fighting, disorderly conduct, trespassing and child neglect,” the City Commission has unanimously banned the consumption of alcohol on parts of Sunset Beach, but only on weekends and holidays.
The ban applies to weekends and holidays through October 3, 2011, but may become permanent.
Areas affected: From approximately 99th Avenue on the northern boundary, to the north side of Sunset Chateau condos near 85th Avenue. The alcohol ban does not affect the beach in front of Caddy’s on the Beach restaurant. The ban also does not affect the public access beach park at the southern end of the island.
Source: http://www.mytreasureisland.org/documents/alcohol_regulated_area_map.pdf
Sunset Beach has been struggling with rowdy behavior and parking problems for quite a while, as reported by the Times:
- October 2008 – A plan to make on-street parking illegal in Sunset Beach is scrapped because it might interfere with the city’s eligibility for federal beach renourishment money.
- March 2009 – Proposal to ban alcohol on Sunset beach was withdrawn because the residents opposed it. Residents said the main problem was caused by parking congestion at Caddy’s restaurant.
- June 2009 – Treasure Island discusses eliminating boat anchoring close to shore along Sunset Beach because of the risk to swimmers.
- July 2009 – Treasure Island considers a ban on beer kegs at the beach. “…residents daid they were afraid to take their families, and particularly their children, to the beach because of the vulgarity and drunken behavior,” including “…urinating on the beach and engaging in sex acts,” and leaving “…piles of trash when they left.”
- December 2009 – Sunset Beach residents sue Treasure Island and Caddy’s restaurant because of “…noise, parking, traffic and other issues.”
- February 2010 – Police begin using surveillance cameras to monitor beachgoers on Sunset Beach during Spring Break and the summer season because of unruly behavior. In addition, up to 9 police officers will patrol the beaches and adjacent coastal waters.
- May 2011 – Treasure Island bans alcohol on parts of Sunset Beach on weekends and holidays.
Read the articles about Sunset Beach in the St. Pete Times.
I’ve personally never encountered any of the above behavior at Sunset Beach because I always drive down to the public access, and I never go on weekends or holidays. The public access on the south end of Sunset Beach is not affected by the alcohol ban (yet).
