Elgin passes ban on some single-serve alcohol

Elgin leaders have reached a compromise that they hope will result in less littering, public drunkenness and loitering at Festival Park and the downtown area.

City council members voted Wednesday to ban the sale of some 29 single-serve, "low cost, high alcohol content" malt liquors and six cheap wines in the downtown area and several blocks around it.

The ban takes effect June 15 to give merchants time to sell their inventories.

Some businesses were concerned the ban would impact sales of bottles of micro-brewed or craft beers.

But Mayor Ed Schock said city officials made the law "single serve" to assuage those fear.

Officials in the fall will evaluate how the ban is working by monitoring police reports, arrests, residents complaints and littering.

"If it isn't very effective, I'm sure we'll hear from the neighborhood groups, I know that," Schock said.

Carryout sales of single bottles and large cans of beer or malt liquor already are banned in the city.

Supporters hope the action will deter people from pestering others and eventually littering downtown and in Festival Park.

A similar law was put into effect in Seattle, but within 18 months liquor companies came up with a whole new batch of products, rendering the law there virtually meaningless.

Bill Cogley, the city's corporation counsel, said Elgin is a smaller market than Seattle, so it is unlikely companies would repackage products just to be sold here. If needed, the city could add products to the banned list.

The another part of the law also would make it illegal to panhandle essentially anywhere in the downtown area.

The city also tightened up its laws for loitering, imposing a $100 fine to sit or lay on a sidewalk unless someone has a medical condition, is part of a protest of 10 people or more or watching a parade. Police have said they will use discretion and judgment when enforcing the law.

A person sitting on the sidewalk after jogging, for example, would not be fined.