For years, the legality of drinking around Autzen Stadium has depended on which side of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard the tailgate party is on.
The Eugene City Council changed that Monday night, voting 6-2 in favor of an city ordinance that will legalize public drinking in the private lots directly north of the stadium. The decision came despite strong opposition from Councilors Bonny Bettman and Betty Taylor, who argued that the new law condones activity that leads to drunken driving.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is a life and death decision,” Bettman said during the meeting, adding that the environment already creates a “very extreme” public hazard.
But assuming Mayor Kitty Piercy signed the law last night, the widened exemption will take effect 30 days later on Oct. 24 – just in time for Oregon’s home game against current-No. 1 USC on Oct. 27. The ordinance takes effect four hours before kickoff, lasting until the end of each game.
Before Monday’s vote, Eugene law prohibited anyone from consuming alcohol in public, save for one exemption – the Autzen Stadium parking lot on home game days.
But as the University expanded and developed the surrounding facilities, more tailgaters and less parking space created problems for police, Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said.
“Once the tailgating expanded outside Autzen Stadium, it created an enforcement dilemma,” she said. “EPD didn’t have the staff to enforce that.”
The expansion also caused a disparity in the law. Public drinking remained legal for tailgaters within the Autzen Stadium complex, but illegal for the others in private lots across Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Coupled with Eugene police’s other game day responsibilities – maintaining order inside the stadium, directing traffic outside and completing regular weekend patrols – Kletzok said there generally aren’t enough officers to cite every drinking offense in other lots.
During the past several months, Eugene police have searched for a way to resolve the issue. The result was the ordinance that was approved Monday night.
But the expanded exemption prompted some controversy from community groups, perhaps most vocally the Eugene affiliate office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving..
MADD Affiliate Executive Director Lois Harvick said she understands the staff dilemma Eugene police are faced with, but isn’t convinced the ordinance will help the larger problem of drunken driving in the area.
“We don’t want to send a message that we’re encouraging this behavior,” Harvick said last week. “It almost sends a stamp of approval.”
Harvick suggested additional help for law enforcement as an alternative, and urged all tailgaters to have a plan before drinking at a game.
“Drunk driving is a serious crime,” she said. “It’s also a serious problem in Lane County.”
Kletzok said Eugene police have ramped up their efforts to apprehend drunken drivers on game days. With the help of a state grant and extra Lane County sheriff’s deputies, officers have handed out a total of 10 DUIIs near Autzen Stadium during the first two home games this season, she said.
The drinking ordinance also puts an increased emphasis on property owners to oversee and educate their own crowds during drinking hours.
The law requires those owners to post signs and distribute handbills to each tailgater that enters the property, outlining the rules stated by the law. Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $500 for a second offense. A third causes the property owner to lose tailgating privileges for one year.
“Basically, it says that property owners are responsible for the public information that educates the tailgating public,” Kletzok said. “If they’re doing that, then they’re following the exemption.”
At the Eugene Masonic Lodge #11, located just north of Autzen Stadium, one of the men in charge on game days is Max Schumacher, the organization’s treasurer.
Schumacher said about 40 staff members from the lodge help oversee more than 500 cars and RVs in the 10-acre lot during each home game. His staff is already accustomed to taking responsibility and distributing handbills to tailgaters, he said.
“We’ve been doing that for two or three years anyway,” Schumacher said. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s not going to make much difference for us.”
But other tailgaters will likely have some time to prepare themselves for the new rules. The October starting date leaves three home games for the council and Eugene police to gauge the law’s success this season. The council will convene again next spring to evaluate the ordinance before the 2008 football season.