Cape Coral considering making all alcohol off limits during local states of emergencies

Before a hurricane, people like Ephraim Sosa load up their shopping carts and prepare for the worst.

“Usually we keep a lot of water and flashlights all over the place,” Sosa said.

Sosa and his family left their Cape Coral home and rode out Hurricane Irma in Fort Myers.

“We lost power since the very first one Charlie. And then the last one I lost my lanai,” he said.

But now when homeowners gear up for storm season, Cape Coral could be taking one thing off the shopping list: alcohol.

“I know there’s a limitation on alcohol…beer? It seems like maybe, possibly an unnecessary law,” said Cape Coral resident Dick Dyszel.

Right now, a Cape ordinance says that during a local state of emergency, the city manager can suspend or regulate the sale of alcohol. But beer would still be up for grabs.

However, after looking at five dozen other municipalities, the city says the ordinance could be changing, making beer off limits too.

“It seems that in a state of emergency, people are more concerned about water, toilet paper, things like that…or gasoline to get out,” Dyszel said.

The change would also allow the city manager to declare a local state of emergency in Cape Coral at any time, not just for hurricanes between June 1 and November 30.

But when it comes to making beer off limits, Dyszel thinks the city should focus on something else.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a priority for people who are in an emergency and possibly going to evacuate,” he said.

The idea was introduced at city council Monday afternoon. A public hearing on the topic is set for June 4.