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Sunday, May 07, 2017

OC BikeFest Takes Shot At Liquor Sales, But Council Votes Down After Spirited Debate

OCEAN CITY — Resort officials this week rejected a request to add liquor sales to beer and wine sales at the OC BikeFest event at the Inlet lot in September, but not before a much larger philosophical debate on the virtues or evils of alcohol in general in the perceived family-friendly resort.

OC BikeFest officials appeared before the Mayor and Council on Monday with a handful of requests related to a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the town for the annual motorcycle event in September. OC BikeFest officials expressed a desire to add liquor in addition to beer and wine at the weekend-long events at the Inlet lot, a request that was ultimately denied after a long, often contentious debate. It appeared to be on the path to a quick approval with a motion by Councilman John Gehrig and a second by Councilman Dennis Dare, but Councilman Wayne Hartman raised concerns that touched off a major larger debate.

“I have concerns with crossing that line in the sand to allow liquor other than beer and wine,” said Hartman. “There’s just a whole list of issues that come up. It’s not this individual promoter, it’s about the fact we’re a family town and there is plenty of availability of liquor already. To add liquor, to me, is setting us up for potential problems.”

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

"perceived family-friendly resort."

Who the hell has that perception? It has not been "family friendly" for the last 20 years. It is no more that a marketing slogan, and doesn't reflect the reality of the resort. Walk down the boardwalk and observe. Look family friendly to you? That town approves pole dancing as a creative art form on the boardwalk! There is NOTHING family friendly about Ocean City, other than they invite families so that they can take their money in any way they can.

Anonymous said...

What is the difference, in the type of alcohol if you already serve ALCOHOL?????? Wine, beer, liquor??? alcohol is alcohol...

Anonymous said...

And there it is...the "family-friendly" theme again. Family-friend went out with the do-do once the plethora of bars/water holes showed up within every block or so.

That's ok, as some will say you can down many SHOTS faster than you can drink beer/wine - but at the end of the day drunk is drunk no matter the spirit of choice!

Anonymous said...

Whaaaaaaaaattt?? Family friendly?
Have you seen the Boardwalk lately? Derogatory t-shirts, tattoos everywhere, girls dressing like sluts, men in wife-beaters, anything that can be pierced, is...cursing, spitting, looks like a trailer-park trash convention, etc.
And having a Jack and Coke is going to make it worse???
Surely, you jest.

Anonymous said...

Ban all booze in USA

Anonymous said...

It's Ok to let Seacrets build a distillery in family friendly OC. Money talks and Bikefest might find a new home. OC can say bye bye to those September dollars.

Anonymous said...

Whoever wrote that headline deserves a raise. That's perfect.

Anonymous said...

No one said anything about a drunk biker killing themselves or someone else. Mixing booze and bikes not good. However as most of these people are big fat oversized baboons they can probably hold a lot.

Anonymous said...

Man I thought it was bicyclefest.

Anonymous said...

We used to be free

Anonymous said...

Remember when Ocean City didn't even want the event? That's why it was in Berlin at the Race Track and Salisbury at Winter Place... Somebody is in someone's pocket??

Anonymous said...

Seacrets and the other big bar owners don't want anyone else selling liquor during these events. Cuts into their profits. Family friendly resort is no different an excuse than it is for children or for safety.

Anonymous said...

Think the Purple Moose Saloon had any influence in that decision?

Anonymous said...

Im ok either way ..beer ,wine .or liquor . However ..ANY experienced Drinker knows .. Liquor make many CRAZY ! lol

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Think the Purple Moose Saloon had any influence in that decision?

May 4, 2017 at 10:14 AM

Duh, yeah. I think they might have seen a large revenue drop for the event if there were liquor sales at the inlet parking lot. The Purple Moose is a biker bar that is just waking distance from the parking lot. I'm sure they made their voice known in the debate.