In an effort to prevent the violent riots that marred last year's Halloween celebration, the Madison City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday night to make the State Street area a 'no-glass zone' during the party.
Council President Michael Verveer, District 4, and Ald. Austin King, District 8, sponsored the ordinance. It allows the Madison Police Department to remove glassware from the area and issue citations from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1.
The regulation is meant to forestall events similar to those last Halloween, when drunken revelers looted stores and threw debris and the police responded with tear gas.
King said he hopes the regulation would prevent trouble while allowing the party to continue.
\This is not about restricting a good time,"" he said. ""This is about making sure everyone can have a good time, because getting your face smashed by a thrown bottle would ruin anyone's night.""
He added, ""This really is a tool that was created to be in the most extreme circumstances, and whenever we're expecting 70,000 intoxicated people on six blocks of our city property, I think that qualifies.""
Central District Police Capt. Luis Yudice said while partiers could be fined $50 for violating the ordinance, the regulation was meant primarily as an educational tool.
""We hope that by publicizing the fact that glass is not allowed within that area, people will simply not bring it,"" he said. ""And in the majority of cases, people would simply take a bottle and we would dispose of it.""
Verveer said the ordinance had little opposition not only because of last year's events, but because they had tailored the law to avoid objections.
""We made it clear that all stores, particularly liquor stores, would be well closed by the time this went into effect,"" he said. ""Secondly, we kept the geographic area and the days as limited as possible ... it's only State Street and those streets adjacent to State Street that are largely commercial.""
Verveer added the city had done many things differently this year. They have prepared for large crowds both Friday and Saturday, and there will be organized music on State Street Saturday night, and liquor stores have been asked to sell beer in aluminum or plastic containers.
