WILMINGTON — With more than 50 towns in North Carolina having social districts in place, Wilmington could join the list, should city council sign off on it in early 2025.
READ MORE: Open container ‘social district’ could soon come to downtown Wilmington
ALSO: City of Wilmington seriously eyeing loosened restrictions for outdoor drinking
A pilot program has been put forth to the city from Brooklyn Arts District business owners Scott Wagner of Goat and Compass and Tara English of Brooklyn Cafe, with support from other area business owners. Wagner and English have been ruminating on the idea for months but sent a letter in early fall to city staff, requesting it be the testing ground during the first three Saturdays in February, to complement events hosted in the district.
“Being a tourist destination, being home of several colleges, it makes sense to have a social district,” English said. “We are behind the eight ball on this.”
Social districts permit people to walk along sidewalks with open alcoholic containers, a measure taken up in 2021 in House Bill 890, signed off by Governor Roy Cooper. City staff indicated at the time of the bill’s passing it was looking into areas that have enacted these districts and how it’s handled.
Since then, multiple districts have launched across North Carolina — such as Kannapolis, Raleigh, Durham, Clayton, Selma, Silva, and Kinston. Many have helped revitalize small towns and businesses.
Wagner said he has participated in both Raleigh and Silva’s social districts.
“It is structured,” he said. “It’s not the Wild Wild West — a free for all. There is governance to it and it’s really cool, walking from establishment to establishment and supporting local businesses.”
He said the goal isn’t for people to get sloshed in the BAD to the point of causing a public nuisance. Nor are he and English interested in jeopardizing public safety; that’s why they are proposing the pilot only take place during daytime hours, from noon to 5 p.m.
“There are only two businesses open past midnight on the street,” English said. “But I think that’s key for the public to know: This is not going into late night. There is no need for it to.”
The BAD pilot program would envelop a 10-block area. It includes limiting alcohol purchased from permitted-ABC restaurants and bars to the public right of way on Fourth Street between Walnut and Parsley/N. Front streets, beginning at Flytrap Brewing and ending at Pizzeria Don Luca.
It also would envelop the southside section of The Eagle’s Dare, technically located at 420 N. Third St. A participant in BAD events, Eagle’s Dare would be required to staff people to ensure participants remain only on the Red Cross-facing side to access Fourth Street.
The permitting would not be applicable for people who bring alcohol from their homes or outside of district participants, which could include Palate, Commodore Public Kitchen, Edward Teach, The Kitchen Sink, Bottega, three10 and others.
According to a memo sent to the city council last week, paper or plastic cups would be permitted to contain alcoholic beverages and be no more than 16 ounces; no glass bottles or cans are allowed. The cups also have to be labeled appropriately with the BAD logo and “Drink Responsibly – Be 21.” Social district labels would be purchased from the City of Wilmington.
Yet, participating bars and restaurants cannot allow alcohol bought elsewhere inside its establishment because it’s against the law per the Alcohol Beverage Commission. Therefore, each time a participant purchases an alcoholic drink as part of the pilot program, a sticker from the bartender will be affixed over the previous one placed on the cup, to alert businesses whether the beverage was purchased from them.
It will be up to staff of each participating establishment to oversee rules, check IDs and follow ABC regulations accordingly.
“Personally, I will be on hand every Saturday [during the pilot] to help mitigate problems, especially at the door,” Wagner said. “Basically, I’ll be the bouncer to make sure patrons have finished their drinks and don’t bring in outside beverages into the Goat and Compass.”
Retail owners that decide to participate will determine whether drinks can be allowed inside their stores, according to Wagner and English.
The first date proposed would coincide with the BAD’s annual Coffee Crawl on Feb. 1, which involves more than a dozen businesses in the district serving coffee drinks — both alcoholic and non — as well as java-prepared foods. The event brings anywhere from 700 to 1,000 people to the area, according to English.
“And it’s a family-friendly event, free to attend, and not fully alcohol-based, which felt like the right way to introduce the pilot,” she said.
English and Wagner also suggested the two Saturdays following the coffee crawl, on Feb. 8 and 15, to be part of the social district pilot. Feb. 8 is the Sunday before the Super Bowl — ”a time normally slow in the industry,” Wagner said.
“Hopefully, this will be an economic boost,” he added.
The district is hosting a new event, “Love Fest,” as a fundraiser for Western North Carolina residents affected by Helene. It takes place Feb. 15, the day after Valentine’s Day, and will include pet adoptions, a florist selling flowers and potentially music will be involved.
“We all will donate a certain portion of proceeds or profits to Western North Carolina,” English said.
Wagner and English met in November with Wilmington Downtown Inc.’s CEO Christina Haley, as well as city staff, including fire, police, parking, the attorney’s office, public services and parks and recreation representatives, to hash out the pilot’s details. There will be no additional police or fire personnel requested, according to the city memo, and no city streets will be closed. WDI is providing ambassadors to monitor the area and help patrons as need be.
Multiple trash and recycling receptacles will be set up throughout the district, all handled by the BAD collective, making it easier for strollers to discard their cups.
The program also requires anyone not participating in the event, as well as area residents, be notified in writing about the pilot.
Wagner and English have agreed to meet with city staff and WDI on Monday and Tuesday following each of the three pilot dates. The debriefing will include conversations about what worked, what needs improvement and if any issues should be addressed.
“Based upon discussions,” Deputy City Manager Chad McEwen wrote in the memo, “we feel that the 4th Street/Brooklyn Arts area is a reasonable location for a pilot social district. … the operational plan developed by WDI and the Collective will help ensure that public safety interest will be maintained.”
English said she sees the launch as a “game-changer” for Wilmington, even setting the standard for other districts, like the Soda Pop or Cargo District, or for events only, whether Azalea Festival or Riverfest.
“We are happy to have BAD lead the way,” English said. “With our growing popularity and it being only one street, it makes it very easy to contain.”
BAD hosts roughly six events a year, such as the Margarita Crawl, ArtsFest and Alt-Zalea Fest, which has around 2,000 people come through each April during the city’s North Carolina Azalea Festival. BAD is also launching new events this year, including bringing back its Day of the Dead walk near Halloween and another “big event” in the early stages of planning, too soon to reveal.
The hope is to have the pilot approved by council and prove successful enough to have a social district in place for other events too.
Port City Daily reached out to city council members and the mayor to garner feedback on benefits and concerns with a proposed social district.
Council member Luke Waddell was the only person to respond by press. He pointed to the success of other cities as a positive, particularly in the way it creates “vibrant, walkable areas where residents and visitors can enjoy public spaces in a more dynamic way.”
Waddell thought there was a benefit to the BAD pilot, boosting both business and community engagement.
“To evaluate the pilot’s success, I would look at metrics such as increased foot traffic, sales growth for participating businesses, and feedback from residents, business owners, and visitors,” Waddell wrote in an email to Port City Daily. “Additionally, monitoring any changes in public safety incidents or the cleanliness of the area will be key. The goal is to ensure the program contributes positively to the community without creating unintended challenges.”
He added downtown proper seemed like an obvious extension, if the pilot succeeds, or any Wilmington neighborhood with a mix of active retail and residential options that also prove pedestrian-friendly. Yet, each would require its own research to determine viability.
Mayor Saffo did not respond to questions but has shown support for social districts in the past.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Saffo said three years ago, according to previous PCD reporting. “In fact, I would support it if I think we could enforce it and we could do a good job with it.”
Per the law, social districts are to be clearly identified with posted signs and the city highlighting boundary renderings and times the district is in place. The details must be published on the city’s website and presented to the ABC Commission.
The city is already in the process of submitting the BAD pilot request to the ABC in Raleigh, according to the memo.
Wagner and English said the BAD Collective is covering costs of the signage, up to a dozen posted throughout the 10 blocks on sandwich boards, as well as individual signs to go on designated participating businesses.
“We know we’re the guinea pig,” Wagner said, “and we’ve told the city we want to do this the right way, to make it work, and we don’t want to be a burden.”
Permit holders of the social district also will be given staff orientation materials, customer do and don’t sheets, and maps with listed participants.
City staff is clear in its document sent to council that launching a pilot program of this caliber does not relegate the governing board to anything further; a permanent district would take additional action. English and Wagner said even if permanency were an option, they didn’t plan to advocate for late-night hours.
“Perhaps more days than just Saturday,” English said.
In Raleigh, the Sip n Stroll social district is open seven days a week and operates 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. In Greensboro, the Boro District also operates daily from noon to 9 p.m.
Having social districts during concert days would be especially effective for BAD businesses, English and Wagner confirmed, as the district is a straight-shot and within walking distance to the city’s three-year-old Live Oak Bank Pavilion Amphitheater. The two business owners concur its opening has boosted economic impact in the area.
Wagner said the social district would catapult it even further, remembering when Goat and Compass was “an island” unto itself upon opening 17 years ago, before other businesses began operating in the area.
“It’s like night and day for us,” Wagner said, with increased visitors “since more businesses moved in, since Covid-19 and when the Live Oak Bank Pavilion opened. A social district would take us to that next level.”
Alex White, owner of Don Luca, agrees. He moved to Wilmington right before the pandemic and took over the pizzeria two years ago. Coming from the Virgin Islands, he has witnessed first-hand how the public reacts to lessened restrictions on open containers.
“You’re allowed to drink wherever there,” White said, “and I think it fosters business. I’ve seen how people end up walking around, spending more money, seeing friends, creating a community … and I feel like when you take the guardrails down, people realize they need to take care of themselves, and they don’t want to mess it up for other folks. They may even pace themselves more because they don’t feel rushed to finish a drink before leaving the bar.”
According to the document sent to Port City Daily, presentations of the pilot program are to go before council at the Jan. 6 agenda briefing and again at Jan. 7’s council meeting where the public can weigh in. Agendas have yet to be confirmed, according to spokesperson Lauren Edwards.
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