TRAVERSE CITY — As the weather warms up and people gather outdoors, the Traverse City Police Department officials remind the public of various ordinances guiding where people can legally drink alcohol.
The city has three separate ordinances that outline where people can drink and what kinds of alcohol can be consumed. Violations of two of the ordinances could lead to a misdemeanor charge, while the third is a civil infraction.
In recent weeks, police have seen an uptick in violations of those rules; people need to make sure they’re drinking in areas that allow it, Sgt. Reed Shea said.
“You cannot walk down the street or sidewalk while consuming alcohol – and not all parks allow it either. Keep an eye out for signs prohibiting its consumption,” Shea said.
The department typically sees more violations during the summer – and this year has been no exception, Shea said.
What is new this summer is an ordinance on public alcohol consumption that bans drinking on sidewalks, rights-of-way, in public parking lots and parking structures.
The ordinance passed last September bans and carves out an allowance for businesses licensed for outdoor alcohol sales so they can serve or deliver it to a designated area of a right-of-way, sidewalk or public parking area – if the city commission gives the OK.
The ban does not apply to the city’s social district on Eighth Street at Garfield Avenue, which falls under different rules set by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. In the social district, adults 21 years of age or older can drink alcohol in public spaces within that common area, provided the beverage is purchased from an approved business and served in a properly labeled container not exceeding 16 ounces.
A violation of this ordinance is a civil infraction that could result in a fine of not less than $50, plus costs and other sanctions, for each infraction.
Ordinance 1064.09, which was adopted in 2023, restricts the type of allowable alcohol to beer and wine and bans drinking in some city parks.
There is no alcohol allowed at all in American Legion Park, Clinch Park Beach, F and M Park, Hannah Park, Hickory Hills, Hull Park and the trail immediately west of Hull Park to the bridge, J. Smith Walkway and Lay Park, within Hull Park, the Men’s Trail and the Women’s Trail (including Grand Traverse Commons, Veterans Memorial Park and Meijer’s Silverbrook Acres).
The ordinance does allow for exceptions, if a permit has been issued or if otherwise stated. For example, it stipulates that the consumption and possession of beer and wine is not allowed in the Open Space during the week of the National Cherry Festival, except in the Festival Beverage Pavilion, and for the National Cherry Festival Wine Tasting Event.
The third rule, Ordinance 608.05, adopted in 2007, allows the city manager to ban through executive order, the possession or consumption of open alcohol on city-owned property and must be identified through signage.
The locations that fall under this ordinance include Fire Station No. 1 at 500 West Front St.; Fire Station No. 2 at 1313 East Eighth St.; Governmental Center at 400 Boardman Ave,; the Law Enforcement Center at 851 Woodmere Ave.; the Larry C. Hardy Parking Deck at 300 East State St.; and the Old Town Parking Deck at 125 East Eighth St.
Anyone found in violation could be fined between $25 and $100 or imprisoned for up to 30 days, or both, for each offense, according to the statute.
But just being in violation doesn’t mean someone will get a ticket. Officers have discretion as to whether or not to issue a ticket.
“I think it would be fair to say they issue far more warnings than citations,” Shea said.
Before passing the ordinance banning drinking on public right-of-ways, Commissioner Heather Shaw asked Police Chief Matthew Richmond if the new ordinance will be enforced equitably.
“I don’t want to discriminate between the partier at the farmers market and the homeless person in the alley,” she said.
Richmond replied that the department does not have an enforcement policy, and said people complying, and pouring out their beverage and moving along, would be a best-case scenario.
“Not everybody deserves a ticket or to go to jail – and for me to put 100% enforcement in place, I don’t believe in that,” he said.