BURLINGTON, Ky. — People in Boone County will now be able to buy and consume alcoholic drinks at county parks for special events.

While the change has drawn some pushback from residents, one county commissioner said alcohol sales will be highly controlled, and will benefit the county.

One of the parks where alcohol might be sold is England Idlewild Park.

Fred Salaz plays disc golf at the Idlewild Disc Golf Course all the time. He also happens to have co-designed the course.

“This is one of the most popular courses in the country. People from all over the country come over here to play and experience what we built,” Salaz said.

One thing Salaz said he wishes he could do after a long day of play is crack open a cold beer.

“Beer is good,” he said, laughing.

Moving forward, he’ll be able to drink beer at the park during special events, like the LWS Open, a professional disc golf tournament held annually at Idlewild. 

That’s because on April 23, the Boone County Fiscal Court passed an amendment to a county ordinance, which will allow licensed vendors to sell alcohol during special events at Boone County parks. 

“I think it’s an excellent idea. I think it’ll do really well. It’ll bring more people to the tournament,” Salaz said.

Vendors will have to obtain a special events permit for $25, as well as insurance, and pay for a sheriff’s detail and cleanup crew.

Commissioner Jesse Brewer, who led the effort to change the ordinance, said this will not turn parks into party zones, despite the concerns some residents have raised. For example, he said, drinks will be limited to beer and wine, not hard liquor. And drinking will be limited to restricted areas within parks.

“I think people just didn’t understand it. You know, the initial response was, ‘Oh, there’s gonna be alcohol in the parks, people can go over there and drink.’ If you do that, you’re gonna be in for a rude awakening and get in trouble. This is not a free-for-all, go sit in the park and drink beer. This is a special event permit type thing,” Brewer said. “It’s 2024. We’ve had a lot of growth in our county, a lot of people that have moved here. And you get a family that wants to go out and go to a concert in a park or something like that and have a beer. To have that opportunity now, they have to usually go across the river to Cincinnati or Indiana.”

Brewer said the change will help keep those families and their money in Boone County.

“We’ve had requests from residents. We’ve had requests from other event people that do events in our parks,” he said.

Salaz said he thinks it’ll help the disc golf tournament scene, too.

“If you bring a vendor in, they would help sponsor the tournament. They would bring money to the tournament, and it would be distributed to the players, so that’s a good thing,” he said.

It may be a small change, but Brewer said the hope is it’ll create new entertainment opportunities. And if there are any issues, the county can stop issuing permits and repeal the ordinance.