Students and visitors heading to State Street on Halloween weekend may need to leave behind their glass bottles.
A proposed referendum creating a “glass-free zone” between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, will be considered Tuesday by the Madison City Council.
In response to the Nov. 3 riots on State Street last Halloween weekend that resulted in violence against Madison police and students and looting and other damage to downtown businesses, a $69 fine would be issued to violators of the ordinance.
Downtown Alder Austin King, District 8, is a co-sponsor of the resolution and said the city expects 70,000 people on State Street this Halloween and that police “strongly recommended” the City Council create the glass-free zone.
“Glass bottles used as projectiles was one of the things that happened last year, and it remains a concern,” King said.
Any opened glass containers with alcohol will be subject to open container violations already in existence, but the glass-free zone ordinance would apply to any closed glass bottles even if they do not contain alcohol, King said.
City Council President and resolution co-sponsor Mike Verveer, District 4, said he would be surprised if any citations are issued for violations of the glass-free zone. He said police would likely use the ordinance to legally confiscate glass containers without citations.
“Police will have enough to do [without having to] pull out their ticket book and write tickets,” Verveer said.
Madison Police Central District Capt. Luis Yudice said broken glass presents a safety problem because it can be thrown and people can fall on it, citing last year’s Halloween riots and past Mifflin St. Block Parties as examples where broken glass has caused a problem.
Yudice said a planning committee including police, city officials, University of Wisconsin representatives and local business owners has been working with liquor stores and tavern owners to craft a resolution everyone could agree on.
“I think this speaks to the cooperation we’re receiving from the community,” Yudice said in a recent interview.
King also said the stone garbage containers on State Street were smashed and used as projectiles last year. This year they will be bound together in groups of three with steel wire so they can’t be removed.
King said that downtown liquor stores have agreed not to sell glass bottles if there is a plastic or aluminum bottle alternative to the same product.
Police plans for this year will be much more detailed, King said, to prevent a recurrence of last year’s riots.
“There’s also much more cooperation among different law enforcement agencies like the UWPD (UW Police Department), the Dane County Sheriff’s Department and the state police,” King said.
King also mentioned the all-day, family friendly events of Killer Party 2003, the city’s official Halloween celebration Saturday, Nov. 1, which aims to attract people to State Street throughout the day rather than just after the bars close. Information about the event, which includes bands playing in Library Mall from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. Saturday night, can be found at www.madisonhalloween.com.
“We expect 70,000 people on State Street; when they’re all really drunk at two in the morning, that’s when there’s problems,” King said.
According to the resolution, the glass-free zone would include the entire length of State Street in addition to the 500, 600 and 700 blocks of University Avenue, the 200 and 400 blocks of West Gorham Street, the 400 block of West Gilman Street, the 400 and 500 blocks of North Frances Street, the 400 and 500 blocks of North Lake Street, the 500 block of North Murray Street and the 300 block of North Henry Street between West Gorham and State Street.
