Many of you have no doubt been reading, here and elsewhere, about the recent Quality of Life and public nuisance-related challenges in Belmont Shore generally, and along 2nd Street in particular. Some of you may have even been experiencing these challenges first-hand.
For many, non-residents for the most part, an awareness of these issues – late weekend night public drunkenness, fistfights, loud music, public arguments and other noise disturbances, traffic congestion, parking violations, vandalism, public urination, litter, etc – is a fairly recent thing.
Others – mostly residents, especially those who live within a block or two on either side of 2nd Street – will tell you that these challenges have been ongoing and that they feel they have been increasing for several years.
Some residents are tolerant… understanding that it’s not generally possible to live within blocks of any popular night spot, let alone several, along 2nd Street or elsewhere, that serve alcohol and cater to a younger and harder-partying sort of crowd, without some level of public nuisance bleed-over into the surrounding, usually quiet neighborhoods.
There are many such locales along 2nd Street (some say far too many), all with their own unique feel: small and crowded, large and raucous, a touch o’ the Irish, a Latin flare, a sporting bent, or just chock full of good music, great food, fine adult beverages, friends and fun times.
Some residents actually welcome the periodic party atmosphere of 2nd Street, understanding also that this is not all of what 2nd Street has to offer, and they will tell you that they moved to the Shore specifically to enjoy and partake in that lifestyle.
Others though – long-time residents as well as recent transplants who were attracted to the proximity of the ocean, the quaint, eclectic and close-knit houses, the excellent shops and restaurants in the area and the quiet feeling of community that the Shore has always engendered – will tell you that these Quality of Life and public nuisance challenges are neither welcome, acceptable nor tolerable.
Sometimes, what’s attractive and entertaining to some, is pure anathema to others. Sometimes, what seems pleasing and fun-filled to some leaves others… less than pleased.
Sometimes, as it apparently did on May 28th, the fun and revelry can degrade into vandalism and violence… a window broken, citizens detaining the suspect, police summoned, resisting arrest, and a rapid series of events that ultimately resulted in an officer-involved shooting, and a suspect both in custody and convalescing, under guard, in the hospital.
This is hardly a pleasant atmosphere or preferable circumstances for anyone, resident or guest, business owner or customer, party-goer, police officer or arrestee.
But how best to resolve these challenges?
How best to balance the desires of some to either provide or to partake in a vibrant and entertaining night life with the at least equally important needs of others to enjoy peace and quiet where they choose to reside. And how best to achieve such a public policy balance and maintain it once found?
First: Develop stronger partnerships within the community. Some residents are quite fed up with these public nuisance issues and rightly so. Some business representatives are equally insistent that they be permitted to conduct their lawful business in a lawful manner and that they should not be held to answer for the personal conduct of every drunk person that meanders down the street. Both stakeholder groups have rights that should be valued and protected. Both groups need to reach out toward, and better communicate and cooperate with, one another. Between the competing interests of each group exists some middle ground from which to start a conversation.
Two community organizations: The Belmont Shore Residents Association (BSRA) and the Belmont Shore Business Association (BSBA) are, or under normal circumstances would be, well-placed to represent these two primary stakeholder groups and to work to improve communication and cooperation.
Unfortunately these two groups (or at least their respective Boards of Directors) seem to be constantly and consistently at war with one another. Rather than fostering communication and cooperation they, in their current state, are prohibiting and degrading both.
The answer, then, is for the majority of members of each of these groups to either require their respective Boards to begin working better together for the benefit of all concerned or, if these Boards will not or cannot do so, to replace them with new Board Members who can and will.
Second: Reconfigure, re-focus and re-name the City Advisory Commission with jurisdiction in that area. The, somewhat torturously named, Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Advisory Commission (BSPBIAAC { I know, huh!}), as currently configured, is comprised of seven members, 6 of which come from the business side of the equation and only 1 which must be a member of the Belmont Shore Improvement Association (BSIA, the former incarnation of the BSRA). Given the original name and mission of this non Charter-mandated and volunteer Commission, a heavily business-oriented slant seems appropriate.
But I think there’s a bigger picture to be considered here, and one that impacts residents and businesses alike and, indeed, equally. I suggest that we re-configure this Commission with a balance of 3 business representatives (nominated by the BSBA), 3 resident representatives (nominated by the BSRA) and 1 representative that qualifies as both and that is approved of by both community groups. Then re-focus and re-name this Commission to something like “The Belmont Shore Area Advisory Commission” and allow them to advise the Council on *all* identifiable challenges in Belmont Shore, including residential, business and parking issues, each of which are clearly inter-related and each of which deserves input from, and corroborative solutions fully agreed to by, both stakeholder groups.
There are clearly some challenges with this idea (the allocation of parking meter and Assessment District funds, for instance), but none that can’t be overcome with, you guessed it, improved communication and cooperation from both sides and full support from the Mayor and Council.
A properly re-configured, re-focused and re-named BSAAC can help to provide the much needed City-sponsored common ground upon which all area stakeholders can stand and from which they might finally be able to develop some collaborative solutions to these public nuisance and Quality of Life challenges.
Third: Beef up the police presence in the area. Consider assigning more on-duty police officers to patrol the 2nd Street area between…say…10:00pm and 3:00am on Friday and Saturday nights. I understand that patrol resources are severely limited and extremely busy during those hours and on these nights but such an increased presence need not be permanent and would likely send a much-needed message to those who like to party a little too hard that the Police Department is monitoring, will be on-scene quickly (because they’re already in the area) and will take any and all enforcement action that is appropriate and proves necessary to assure that the public’s safety and peace are appropriately maintained.
Fourth: Hire “Shore Guides” to maintain a strong informational and “observe and report” presence in the area. Should the BSBA and BSRA finally begin to cooperate with one another again, perhaps they can agree to pitch in together to pay for uniformed “Shore Guides” to patrol the area in the evenings. They can be equipped and assigned according to the very successful model currently used by the Downtown Guides that are subsidized by the DLBA.
When our police officers can’t be present…and, despite what we would like, they cannot always be present…sometimes it suffices for those inclined to mischief to know that a very visible and professional looking SOMEone is still monitoring the area closely and has reliable communications with our cops.
So there we are… my recommendations for improving the Quality of Life and addressing public nuisance challenges along 2nd Street, humbly submitted for your consideration.
I very much welcome your questions and your comments.