The Aloha Stadium Authority yesterday approved a recommendation by a special task force to consider a ban on the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the stadium's parking lot before, during and after regular-season collegiate sporting events at the facility.

The proposal must go to various state agencies, the governor's office and then to public hearings before a final plan can be implemented, said Patrick Leonard, stadium spokesman. That would take a minimum of 50 days, meaning a ban at the earliest would not be in place until the University of Hawai'i Warriors' next-to-last regular-season game Nov. 25 against Wisconsin.

Alcohol would continue to be sold inside the stadium, Leonard said. The ban also would not cover postseason bowl games, such as the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and the NFL Pro Bowl.

The idea to prohibit alcohol in the stadium and the parking lot was proposed by Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and UH Interim President David McClain. The two had hoped to have the ban in place at the beginning of this football season in an effort to curb bad behavior by some fans.

But legal issues and questions on how far-reaching the ban should be delayed a decision.

Leonard said the recommendation by the four-member task force was a "really hard decision." He said members met with stadium vendors, interviewed UH fans at the season opener with Southern Cal, and also talked with police, stadium security and state sheriffs.

"It wasn't a hasty decision," Leonard said.

The task force determined that the sale of alcohol in the stadium can be controlled, while the amount of alcohol consumed in the parking lots can't. Under the proposal, anyone caught drinking could be removed from the event.

"(The task force) felt that a lot of the people that do create problems are already intoxicated before they come into the stadium," Leonard said.

Kevin Chong Kee, Stadium Authority chairman, said the authority also had to consider its contract with stadium concessionaire Centerplate before implementing a ban.

"In the stadium we have obligations with contracts that have been signed. The vendor ... has six years left on their contract," Chong Kee said.

Still unanswered is how a ban on drinking in the parking lot will be enforced. Chong Kee said this will be one of many issues to be discussed at the authority's next meeting on Oct. 27.

"Right now we sit and wait and watch what happens and see where we're at in another month," he said. "There is a process that we must follow, so we're going to follow that process, and by passing this motion it starts now."

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.