Letter to Editor: BYOB Won't Cure Economic Hangover

To the Editor:

Clearly, those on either side of the BYOB issue have already made up their minds and won't likely be swayed by a single opinion. But to my friends and neighbors in the middle still undecided, I'll offer my two cents. 

As a dry town, Ocean City has the one thing that sets it apart from every other shore vacation destination on the coast. It is an attraction that no other town is likely to adopt and one that, once surrendered, would be very difficult to regain.

A change to our city's character and status as drastic as BYOB — with all the known and unknown negatives that will arise from it — should not be risked unless it would benefit the entire community and not just a handful of businesses that knew this was a dry town when they opened their doors.

The economic hangover our local businesses are feeling is a symptom found in every small town across the country, and like any good hangover, it cannot be cured with another drink. We can look to the many restaurants and bars that have come and gone in the surrounding "wet" towns and figure out that alcohol doesn't guarantee success. A bigger red flag is that even local restaurateurs don't agree that BYOB will increase their business.

In reality, if you are voting for BYOB, you are voting for alcohol to be consumed on the Boardwalk, the beach, and anywhere within walking or driving distance of a restaurant because people on vacation will always take a yard where an inch is allowed. This clearly would not be good for the entire community of America's Greatest Family Resort. 

And as for the restaurants, like the rest of Ocean City's tourism industry, attracting customers with BYOB is really a zero sum game. For every new customer the restaurant's might attract with alcohol, the rest of Ocean City risks losing customers who have come to this town for generations just because they know their family won't be exposed to the many side effects of alcohol. 

In the end, BYOB will not attract any more people to Ocean City. It will just attract different people.

Rhonda Van Wingerden
Ocean City