St. Pete Beach approves booze sales on beach, with restrictions

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – You’ll soon be able to raise a glass along St. Pete Beach.

City commissioners voted to allow booze on the beach, with some strict limits.

Cheers! Down the hatch! Das vidana! Whatever your favorite phrase is with your favorite adult beverage, you’ll soon be able to enjoy it in or near the hundreds of cabanas along St. Pete Beach.

“Everybody’s here to have fun. Everybody’s here to have a good time. So I don’t see no harm in it,” said Tradewinds guest, Nick Martin.

Neither do St. Pete Beach City Commissioners. They voted to relax the rules, so hotel guests, and those with hotel guests, can drink up when served by hotel employees, within 10 feet of a cabana.

Commissioners stressed this is not a free-for-all.

Drinkers will be required to wear wrist bands and cannot stray towards the water or away from the cabanas.

Not everyone is on this booze train.

Bill Pyne, a long-time resident of Silver Sands Condos, worries rowdy behavior will follow when alcohol starts to flow.

“People have come up to me and said they even feel intimidated walking up and down the beach. That just shouldn’t be,” said Pyne.

Tradewinds Resort President Keith Overton says fear not.

“The hotel owners of St. Pete Beach understand that, that is what drives people to our destination. Sugar white sands, the blue waters, the last thing we want is for that to be disturbed or for our image to change in a negative way,” said Overton.

It will take a few weeks for the new ordinance to kick in. Signs have to be put up, marking the alcohol zones.

Violations will mean warnings or revoking of the right to serve on the beach.