Lido Beach's Place in the Alcohol Ban Debate

If banning alcohol at one county beach happens, would it lead to a problem at another?

Sarasota City Commissioner Shannon Snyder carefully dipped his toe in the water on that issue Monday afternoon when he question the possible scenario as the county regulates both beaches, but Sarasota police would have to respond to incidents surrounding Lido.

"If anything is done on Siesta, have it done on ," Snyder said.

Mayor Suzanne Atwell agreed, but both didn't say if they favor a certain outcome.

Snyder added that if a ban is approved, do it for both beaches, but if drinking will be continued to be allowed on Siesta, the same should be done on Lido.

The comments are in response to a St. Patrick's Day brawl on Siesta Beach, which featured about 30 people fighting and a large crowd watching, according to witness reports. Six people were arrested for the incident — all for disorderly conduct and only one of them accused of being intoxicated.

Given both the brawl and the death of Chen, they are both chapters in a decades long debate on alcohol consumption at Sarasota public beaches.

In 1991, the Herald-Tribune reported that commissioners were split, with one commissioner Gene Pilot considering to ban it with exceptions for special events.

It was a different time in a way, as former commissioner David Mills had also proposed during the same period to only hire non-smokers in the county government, the paper reported. Mills has since returned to commission meetings supporting the Chen and MacPhail families.

The support was there initially, during a time when the thoughts of rowdy drunks and college spring breakers were the image of the day, but the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office countered those were isolated incidents, the same as some see as Saturday's event was — on a holiday known for its imbibing encouragement. The public had said no to the ban and the proposal fell apart.

In 2012, that image for the most part has changed as 

Then, the argument was that 75 percent of drowning victims die under the influence of alcohol, by the parks supervisors' estimates, the paper reported.

The paper found a 21-year-old Michael Bush sipping a beer on South Lido Park and told the paper:

"I think the whole country and city are controlled by these," he said, pointing to of condominiums near the beach. "Rich retirees. And they pretty much don't want to see kids. Let's face it, the kids don't vote."

In its argument for a booze ban on Siesta Beach, The Herald-Tribune wrote in its editorial that Lido Beach just doesn't have the citation history compared to Siesta:

"Sheriff's office figures show 88 DUI arrests in 2011 on Siesta Key. Lido, by contrast, had fewer than a dozen alcohol-related cases last year."

So far, the following people were arrested for disorderly conduct, reported The Herald-Tribune:

•Austin Cole McLaughlin, 18, 4700 block of 30th Avenue East in Bradenton.

•Jamie Edward Rowe, 37, of McDonough, Ga.

•William Matthew Devenny, 22, of the 4000 block of 14th Avenue East in Bradenton.

•David A. Guckert, 26, of the 3000 block of Satsuma Drive in Sarasota.

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Wendy Rose said such disturbances on Siesta Beach are "very rare" and that, fortunately, deputies were able to react even before anyone could call 9-1-1. Six people were arrested on minor charges.

"We had extra deputies on duty at the beach and in the Village throughout the spring break season, and even more on hand Saturday due to St. Patrick's Day crowds and celebrations," Rose said."

The Herald-Tribune also reported that Bradenton resident Cody Noordzy, 24, 7200 block of County Road 675 and Venice resident Jonnie Michelle Armenti, 20, of the 200 block of Cardinal Road were arrested on disorderly conduct charges. Within all that, only Guckert's arrest report mentions the influence of alcohol, the Herald-Tribune reported.

WWSB was on the scene filming the aftermath and witnesses told ABC7 deputies settled the matter quickly:

"When it did start to hit the fan the cops rushed in fairly swift, cops on horses and they eradicated the situation very quickly," said Aaron Bennett, a beach-goer who saw the brawl go down He believes alcohol most likely played a role.

"It was a bunch of guys getting a little crazy, drunk, little out of control," said Bennett.

While fights like this are rare on Siesta, some are wondering whether or not the Key is starting to attract more college spring breakers, something beach officials say they are noticing.

"I think that there is a bit of a younger crowd coming in," said lifeguard and EMT Rick Hinkson, "I know last week there was a lot of Florida schools that were off."

That fight is adding to the debate whether alcohol should be banned on the beach while the family of Donna Chen pleads the county commissioners to ban alcohol on Siesta Key beach. , who was drinking at Siesta Key Beach and was told to leave by sheriff's deputies after causing trouble.

A sister of Donna Chen told WTSP that they believe drinking on the beach doesn't contribute to the local economy:

"They are not coming to build the economy up. They're coming there because they can drink there have a good time at the expense of other people," says Cheryl Elsbree.

The fights were captured in photos by , who e-mailed the county commission Saturday about the brawl.

"Suddenly, we and many other families with children found ourselves as innocent bystanders as the beach exploded violently into a drunken brawl. There was fighting all over the public beach. People were being knocked down, kicked down, punched," Noble wrote.

"Finally, the mounted police arrived and sheriff's officers on foot and riding the ATV started handcuffing and dragging the drunken brawlers off the beach. The paramedics began treating the injured and the sheriff's officers started loading the drunken brawlers into the waiting patrol cars to haul them off to jail."

Chen's family has started a petition on Change.org to ban alcohol at the beach. So far 766 people have signed the petition online, according to the website.