Update 9/18/20: The Montgomery County Planning Board voted 4-1 Thursday to approve a new measure that temporarily suspends the prohibition of alcohol consumption at nine parks. The park directive goes into effect Sept. 24 and will allow visitors to drink without a permit in designated areas from 11 a.m. to dusk. The initiative will last through May.

Planning Board member Tina Patterson voted against the directive, Bethesda Magazine reported. Members of the public testified at the virtual meeting, including people who expressed concern that the directive would increase unsafe drinking in the county.

Currently, nine parks are included in the initiative:

• Jesup Blair Local Park
• Acorn Urban Park
• Germantown Town Center Urban Park
• Norwood Local Park
• Olney Manor Recreational Park
• Takoma Urban Park
• Wall Local Park
• Wheaton Local Park
• Wheaton Regional Park

Original 9/8/20:

Bottoms up — drinking in some public parks in Montgomery County may soon be allowed, according to a new park directive that’s scheduled to go into effect next week.

It’s part of the MoCo Eats “Picnic in the Park” initiative, which was launched in August to support local restaurants and encourage people to eat at socially-distanced picnic areas throughout the county. Signs with QR codes take visitors to a list of local restaurants that deliver directly to the parks.

Previously, liquor has been banned at all Montgomery parks, with few exceptions — like a beer garden at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, or the occasional “Yappy Hour” (pop-up dog parks with food and drinks.) But if approved by the Montgomery Planning Board next week, the picnic program will make Montgomery County parks slightly more European in nature.

“We can’t do a lot of the things that we typically do right now in the summer. So we’ve tried to be creative and think, ‘Well, what can we do?’ This is something we felt we could do safely to support the restaurants,” Montgomery Parks Director Michael Riley says. “We thought, a lot of people, when they have their lunch or their dinner, really liked to have a glass of wine or a beer with their food.”

The directive — allowing beer, wine, mixed drinks, and spirits — goes into effect Sept. 24 and will last through May 31, 2021, with the possibility of being extended for up to one year.

“If anybody in advance expresses concerns to me about alcohol in the park, I’ll just be very honest and say, ‘Look, we’re going to try this to help the restaurants, we know it will encourage more people to choose this option, and we’ll monitor it very closely,'” Riley says.

While BYOB isn’t specifically prohibited by the new rules, the Parks Department is specifically encouraging people to order food and drinks from local restaurants and not bring their own liquor. Riley says park police will be monitoring the picnic areas to make sure there isn’t any “unlawful behavior.”

Also, drinking isn’t allowed throughout the entire park, Riley says, but only in Picnic in the Park areas, “so people can’t just wander around the whole park with an open container.”

The Parks Department chose urban parks near highly-populated areas and restaurants. “If it’s all good, we’ll expand,” Riley says.