City Council Member Calvin Lester Wants To Make It Illegal For Residents To Drink Alcohol On Vacant Lots. He Says You Can Walk Behind Dozens Of Liquor Stores In The City And See That Vacant Lots Are Actually Transformed Into Outside Bars. People Are Drinking, Many Of Times Fighting, And Trashing Neighborhoods.

Calvin Lester
This Right Here Is Typical Of The Problems That We Are Having. When You Have Got People That Are Loud And Obnoxious And Inebriated That Is Just Not A Good Thing. It Does Not Represent The Majority Of People That Live In Our Neighborhoods Very Well.

Lester Says The Issue Is Not Just About The Trash That Accumulates From Drinking Outside. He Says The Lot Parties Actually Fuel Crime In The City.

Calvin Lester
You Cannot Divorce Those Two Things....

But The People That Hang Around Vacant Lots Don't Think Crime Is A Problem.

Patrick Bone, Resident
I Don't Think It Causes Any Crime, A Lot Of Times They Are Just Hanging Out That's All.

Regardless Of The Crimes That Are Allegedly Occurring, Lester Says Trashy Lots Take An Area's Property Value Down And Can Effect A Neighborhood In Unforeseen Ways.

Calvin Lester
It's A Trash Issue, Its A Public Safety Issue, Its A Public Health Issue, Its A Quality Of Life Issue. All Of Those Things Are Wrapped Up And We Are Just Saying Enough Is Enough


Lester Will Present His Proposal To The City Council At Tuesday's Meeting. If The Council Agrees, The Liquor Ordinance Could Be Adopted In As Soon As Two Weeks