ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A store owner in Anchorage has had enough of bar patrons relieving themselves on his property.
Richard Zeigler has a shop on Fourth Avenue in the city's downtown, and it is next to the Avenue Bar, a recently updated hotspot for young adults.
The problem is public urination. Zeigler has posted dozens of grainy clips on YouTube showing people urinating on his property.
He's also put up a few clips of women puking near his front door.
Zeigler said he turned to YouTube after police, city officials and owners of the bar did not do enough to stop patrons from urinating on his property. People caught urinating in public can be fined $75.
Zeigler, standing behind the counter of his shoe-repair business and Alaska Native trading post, said it is more of a health issue than anything.
"I gotta clean it up. And then when it's frozen, I kind of chip it up and sweep it to their side of the street," he said.
Fourth Avenue bar owner John Pattee said he's tried to address the problem.
"I've tried to take steps. I offered to pay for some kind of good-looking type of barricade [to protect his business]," Pattee said.
But he said Zeigler refused.
"He wants anarchy. ... He doesn't want to try and solve it. He doesn't want to put a barrier up there because if he does, he's out of business," Pattee said.
Most of the videos were shot about the time the bar was letting out and people were waiting around for cabs. Pattee would rather people wait inside the bar, where they have access to the bathroom.
He's hoping the Assembly will pass a rule to let patrons stay indoors once the bar stops serving alcohol. It would reduce all kinds of problems from public urination to sexual assaults, he said.
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