WILMINGTON — With a successful pilot under its belt, the city now has a structure in place to consider applications to launch a social district in varied geographic areas. Though its passage came with concerns also regarding community input.
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The Wilmington City Council approved Tuesday night in a 5-2 vote the social district permitting process and an 11-member Social District Advisory Committee to help evaluate future applications. Mayor Pro Tem Clifford Barnett and council member Kevin Spears dissented.
Social districts consist of mapped-out footprints where customers can purchase alcoholic beverages from bars and restaurants and open-carry them in public right-of-ways during particular timeframes. No outside beverages or brown-bagging is permitted within the district lines.
According to Deputy City Manager Chad McEwen, more than 50 social districts exist statewide since they became legal in 2021. Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina General Assembly passed social districts into law to help businesses bounce back from negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In February, a three-day pilot program launched in the Brooklyn Arts District, with upward of 20 businesses participating in a 10-block social district along Fourth Street from noon to 5 p.m. It was utilized as a blueprint for how to devise the city’s standards and practices moving forward.
McEwen said staff generated guidelines based on feedback from the community, city departments, businesses and Wilmington Downtown Inc. WDI helped BAD businesses with litter pickup and particulars in running the program.
“To the compliments of the folks in the Brooklyn Arts District, there were no calls for service or trash issues,” McEwen told council, meaning police nor first-responders were needed.
Some complaints included overflow of onstreet parking, better outreach and a robust notification effort, the latter of which is now part of the application process.
McEwen said anyone that applies to have a social district in Wilmington’s city limits will need to follow a list of requirements, including:
- 60% of businesses in the proposed district are willing to participate, with a preliminary list of ABC-permitted and non-permitted participants provided
- Participation from three brick-and-mortar businesses with ABC permits is listed
- Participation from at least two food-oriented businesses is also noted
- Boundary district lines are clearly defined with a contiguous footprint, and days and timeline of district are presented
- Social district point of contact is designated and someone to serve on the city’s advisory committee
- Draft signage and maintenance plan is in place to ensure public safety
- $1,000 nonrefundable fee is paid
Applicants also have to notify every property owner within 500 feet of the social district boundary line of its plans and a community meeting is held ahead of the application going to city council.
A community advisory committee will review the materials before council takes up a vote on the district. The committee is made up of voting and non-voting members, with the former including the city manager, police chief, fire chief, parking and downtown services coordinator, park and rec director, and public works director. Non-voting members include a local ABC Commission representative, the WDI executive director, a non-permitted ABC establishment from each district, and an ABC-permitted establishment from each district.
The voting members would ensure the applicants fulfilled all benchmarks on the application list and would assess whether the district would be able to be maintained safely during its proposed timeline. The goal is to avoid creating more of a burden on city services, therefore the district participants are in charge of overseeing trash pickup and ensuring safety measures are followed, as well as covering all funding needs. This includes signage, labels, cups, maps, training materials for workers, media materials for social district notices and other incidentals.
A few council members took issue with the committee makeup, with Salette Andrews requesting Jane McDonald of the Cape Fear Coalition and Coastal Horizons be added as an ex-officio member.
“She has a lot of knowledge about best practices and keeping guardrails and alcohol out of the hands of minors,” Andrews said. “I would really appreciate it if she can be included. I don’t care about voting and non-voting because we are the ones really doing the voting in the end.”
Waddell, who put forth a motion to pass the guidelines, agreed to amend it and add the Cape Fear Coalition representative to the non-voting committee. However, when it came to the same consideration for bringing in a community member of the district, Waddell declined.
Barnett and Spears both spoke about being inclusive to more community voices. Barnett called it “critical” for a resident living in the district to hold a voting seat.
McEwen admitted it was a valid request and said they could certainly add it if it was so the wishes of council. Though Waddell wasn’t partial to changing the motion when Barnett asked for another amendment. While Waddell said he understood the thought process, he worried it could slow down the proceedings.
“We don’t want to add all these people as members, and then they don’t show up and everything languishes on the vine and nothing comes through as it stands,” he said.
Barnett countered someone who lived in a proposed social district area likely would want to be part of the process and wouldn’t dodge participation.
“People [on the committee] work for the city or in the business community; they are not citizens, they don’t have a voice to say we don’t approve,” Spears added. “It’s business-leaning.”
Saffo wasn’t as concerned about a community member serving on the board, considering a community meeting is one of the mandates. McEwen added community members could also bring any issues to the committee to be addressed and there would be a public hearing, welcoming those to speak for or against the proposal upon council’s consideration.
McEwen added BAD businesses, prepared to submit an application if the city passed the guidelines, has estimated around 450 property owners would need to be contacted to see through its permanent social district.
“That’s more than a rezoning request,” council member Charlie Rivenbark chimed in.
Spears questioned how BAD already had an application ready to go without the standards and practices in place yet. McEwen clarified a letter of intent was submitted, but there was still a lot of work to do to complete the application, including scheduling a community meeting, sending out notices and advertising. The goal is for the BAD social district to get on the Aug. 19 city council agenda.
Spears was against the BAD social district pilot earlier in the year as well, outspoken on using economics to justify an event that revolves around alcohol consumption. He shared the same sentiments Tuesday night, also pointing to it contradicting Waddell’s recent calls for a youth curfew and thwarting underage drinking.
Waddell spoke out last week after multiple shootings happened during July 4 weekend, one of which left someone dead after the bars closed on N. Front Street.
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“We’ve had stories just in the last week of situations in downtown with youth, underage drinking and lawlessness, so if we can’t maintain it downtown, how can we maintain it anywhere else in the city? Is it not a concern anywhere else in town?” Spears asked.
He worried more social districts could overextend the police department as well.
“We often talk about being down 30 officers and needing more officers in the MSD — let’s not stretch ourselves too thin,” Spears said.
Mayor Saffo called it a fair criticism. Yet, he also prodded that council has the power to oversee where a social district launches and the environment in which it’s agreed to. Thus, council also can shut one down if it causes disruption or becomes too out of hand.
“There are parameters under which they could be revoked, suspended or amended,” McEwen informed.
It’s one reason staff wanted the voting members of the committee to be within city departments, as district representatives may not be objective, he added. Any imminent need to suspend a district can be enacted by the city manager until the council can take up the revocation hearing at a meeting.
Barnett asked McEwen if he learned during research of other cities whether a social district had been rescinded. Though he had not, McEwen clarified staff created the process with flexibility for the council to address issues as they see fit for each application.
Spears still thought the process looked a bit “uneven.” While the applicants have to reach out to property owners within 500 feet of the social district footprint, Spears said it doesn’t take into account notifying people who could still be impacted elsewhere. In particular, he worried about drinking and driving.
“What about someone who drinks from 12 to 5 and drives around the corner and smacks a kid?” he asked. “A lot of people still within a community won’t have an idea; I heard that from people on the Northside.”
He said one man who lived in the area complained about public urination taking place on a trash can next to his apartment.
“I’m opposed to this because I don’t think we’re being cognizant or considering the community and ramifications of what can happen,” Spears said.
Council member David Joyner inquired about the cities McEwen studied. The deputy city manager said they varied across North Carolina in how and where districts are scaled. For instance, Greenville and Charlotte have multiple districts, while larger cities like Raleigh and Greensboro offer one larger urban area, “some that are 40 blocks.”
The main difference with Wilmington is the city isn’t taking the initiative to carve out where the districts go.
“The way ours is structured is unique — we are reactive to a request rather than proactive to geographical area,” McEwen said.
“I think ‘reactive’ is the operative word here,” Joyner said. “What makes me nervous is competing factions — clusters of bars and restaurants are going to be coming at this at different angles and, candidly, trying to take each other’s business.”
McEwen said any permanent social district passed by council will also be reviewed annually to ensure compliance.
“None of this seems kneejerk,” Waddell said, adding the guardrails staff put in place were thoughtful.
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