WILMINGTON — An area of North Fourth Street could be welcoming patrons for the first time citywide to stroll through 10 blocks with open containers of alcohol as part of a new pilot program.
READ MORE: BAD businesses to pitch pilot social district to city officials in the new year
Wilmington City Council signed off 4-2 (Kevin Spears and Salette Andrews dissenting) on Brooklyn Arts District becoming the testing ground for the city’s first social district, but it needs a second reading, since the vote was not unanimous to waive it. The pilot will be brought back before council at the next meeting for finalization.
The program is slated to take place the first three Saturdays in February, to coincide with BAD planned events, including a coffee crawl on Feb. 1, a sports day before the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, and Love Fest — a combined Valentine’s Day event and western North Carolina fundraiser — on Feb. 15.
The social district is active in daytime hours only, from noon to 5 p.m.
Council member and Assistant District Attorney David Joyner told Port City Daily before the holidays that the city council has received a lot of requests from the community about a potential social district in the last three years.
The state legislature made them allowable in 2021. To date, more than 50 have been approved in various municipalities.
“I think we owe it to those who’ve come forward with a strong, good-faith proposal to see a pilot program in action,” Joyner wrote to PCD on Dec. 12. “Ideally these test dates will give us some important data points on whether this is a good fit for Wilmington.”
Brooklyn Arts District business owners Tara English and Scott Wagner brought forth the social district proposal to the city in October, with the plan fully mapped out for the 20 participating businesses in the district. They worked with city staff and Wilmington Downton Inc. to solidify the plans and proposal.
It’s set up for participants to purchase up to two beer or wine beverages or one liquor drink per establishment to walk through the district freely during active days and times. The drinks must be finished and disposed of before entering another ABC-permitted restaurant or bar; it’s illegal to bring in outside drinks from one bar to another, per the ABC Commission controlling alcohol laws statewide.
The alcohol can only be purchased from businesses in BAD in specialized cups, contain no more than 16 ounces, and be stamped with logos of the district and “Drink Responsibly — Be 21.” The social district does not permit brown-bagging, meaning alcoholic beverages cannot be brought in from elsewhere.
Joyner expressed concerns regarding public safety, in the event there would be nuisance drinkers. No additional police or fire personnel are needed and no city streets will be closed. WDI is providing ambassadors to monitor the area and help patrons as need be.
Chad McEwen, who presented the ordinance to council on Tuesday evening, said during meetings with Wilmington Police Department there was apprehension regarding a social district in general.
“I don’t want to speak for the police department or the police chief, but with it being a pilot, it gives us the opportunity to see what will work … to make sure that we’re not creating an environment that threatens the public safety through use of alcohol and being out on public streets,” McEwen said.
Joyner asked the city attorney about any enforcement mechanisms, such as if someone is drunk and disorderly and engages an officer in the social district: “What charge are they writing?”
He recognized the obvious public intoxication citation but also questioned if someone is eligible for a violation of a city ordinance. City attorney Meredith Everhart responded it would be up to the officer’s discretion, but the ordinance passing, she agreed with Joyner, wasn’t about “restricting how patrons engage” in the district.
There also were concerns for potentially increased litter, but all trash collection from the events are being handled by the BAD Collective and WDI. The collective will place more trash cans throughout the district for disposable cups to be discarded.
There are no costs to the city to run the social district, as BAD businesses are handling the expenditures of specialized cups, stickers to indicate where the cup was purchased from in the district, and signs that will be posted along the 10 blocks.
It will be up to staff of each participating establishment to oversee rules are properly followed, check IDs and follow ABC regulations accordingly.
Council member Luke Waddell said he was “thoroughly impressed” by the organization of the BAD Collective’s plan, which he called cohesive.
“It promotes economic vitality,” he added. “Anyone that wants a blueprint of how to get things done at the city, look at this.”
Council member Kevin Spears was not in favor of promoting early drinking hours. He also had a problem with the district being so close to surrounding neighbors in the Northside area, anticipating it would “heavily impact” them.
“It just does not sit right with me,” Spears said. “If it was centrally located downtown where we have more bars, I probably could be on board.”
McEwen explained the time slot revolving around events made it so the social district wasn’t just to promote people coming out and drinking. There would be music, non-alcoholic beverages, food, vendors, and it will welcome families as well.
“It’s geared toward rising tides for all businesses in the district,” McEwen added.
“You can put an economic spin on anything,” Spears said. “But the driver of this social district is alcohol and I don’t think we can get away from that.”
Wagner, who owns Goat and Compass, stepped up to explain the time frame was chosen as all district events are held during the daytime hours. He told PCD last month they also didn’t want to jeopardize public safety after dark when bars are already packed.
A 5 p.m. end time, Wagner told council, was specific to restaurants in the area to transition from events in the district into dinner service. The goal was to compel people to stick around longer in the district.
Waddell and Joyner told Port City Daily previously they would gauge the district’s success by the impact it has on area businesses.
“I plan to attend at least one of the pilot days to see it in action and to support our downtown businesses,” Joyner wrote in an email last month.
At the meeting, he said making the program a pilot was a smart move to better equip the council with real-time data and give members a chance to see it for themselves.
Waddell said in the meeting he would be bringing his family to social district events.
The city has to inform the ABC Commission of the approved ordinance for the pilot program, should it pass the second reading.
Weekly, after each pilot program date, English and Wagner plan to meet with city officials and WDI to discuss what worked, what did not and how to correct problematic areas and make adjustments. Mayor Pro Tem Clifford Barnett approved of the check-in: “That’s a good idea.”
McEwen told council the goal of the collective is for the district to continue should it be successful.
“This is a precursor to a request for a permanent district with the same footprint in the Brooklyn Ars District,” he said, but council would have to vote again on its permanency.
Joyner said in the long-term if it required law enforcement, he would be hesitant to agree, noting police resources are scarce currently.
“It’s no secret that we have staffing issues at the Wilmington Police Department,” he said, adding that the council is hoping to solve part of the problem in the next budget cycle.
Rivenbark pushed for everyone to remember this would be a test only.
“I’m sure that the vendors and the shop owners and what-have-you are going to work very hard to make this thing work,” he said. “And when it does, which I think it will, it’ll be a lot easier for us to expand it into other parts of the CBD.”
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