Murphy – Town officials plan to take their time examining the idea of a “social district” where alcoholic beverages could be carried in open containers on downtown streets.
Council member Keisha Dockery raised the possibility of such a district during the July meeting, patterning it after similar ventures recently adopted by other towns across the state.
The issue initially was intended to be on last month’s agenda but was left off due to a clerical error. Although the council discussed further exploring the topic as an official part of the August meeting, Town Manager Chad Simons said Dockery held off in order to allow Downtown Development Director Laura Lachance an opportunity to gather more information during a North Carolina Main Street conference this week.
“Social districts are a huge topic,” Simons said. “It’s actually a theme of the Main Street conference. They’re going to present a lot of data they’ve compiled about what they’re seeing with social districts, their impact in communities across the state, some of the issues they’re having with them, some of the unintended consequences of them, and hopefully the benefits.”
Lachance said the three-day conference begins today and wraps up Friday. She said the timing provides a good opportunity for Murphy to learn more about the potential pros and cons of a social district.
“The reason we’re waiting until after that is because there are many towns that are considering social districts or have recently passed social districts,” Lachance said. “It’s only wise to learn from other communities, the process they’ve gone through, and if they have already implemented, what are some of the issues that have come up.”
Dockery and Lachance both acknowledged in July that such a district is still a relatively new approach by towns within North Carolina. The move was made possible after a bill allowing cities and counties to implement social districts passed through the N.C. General Assembly in September.
“It sounds real intense at first, but they can be very regulated,” Dockery said at the time. “We set the exact alley, sidewalk, streets, and it has to be in a container that all the restaurants sell that would be matching, like our city logo would be on them. So you can only buy them from our restaurants and bars downtown, you can’t bring coolers in, stuff out of your vehicle, nothing like that.”
Lachance on Monday touted the informational benefits that go along with Murphy’s recent induction as a Main Street community, which became effective July 1. This is a designation that municipalities earn after meeting rigorous national downtown development requirements.
“You have a network of peers and you can learn from what other people and what they’ve done,” Lachance said. “I think there’s a realization that we shouldn’t be rushing into (a social district).
“We should do our due diligence of finding out what other communities are doing, as well as talking to businesses downtown, restaurants downtown, getting an idea of what their interests may be as well as their concerns. In talking to the Sylva Main Street director, she said the same thing, that they had many hours of local meetings with downtown business owners to make sure their voices were heard in this process.”
Sylva got its social district off the ground in April as part of a six-month test program in which the town will look to see if calls to the police department increased following the creation of the district. Salisbury officially launched its own social district July 1.
According to Dockery, those places have seen increased tourism and tax revenue as a result.
Sylva limited its social district hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Lachance also noted that Sylva chose to allow alcoholic beverages to be brought into certain retail establishments, which are noted by special signage that Murphy businesses would likewise need to adopt.
“A retailer had to opt-in to allow for alcoholic beverages, so it wasn’t assumed,” Lachance said. “And if you purchase a beverage from one ABC license holder, you cannot take it into a second one, you have to dispose of it, and obviously you have to dispose of it before you leave the district.”
As for containers themselves, Dockery said those could come in the form of disposable, clear cups, or reusable stainless steel cups – either of which would feature the town logo.
Council members Gail Walker Stansell and Barry McClure previously suggested integrating a social district into the Murphy Art Walk, which is held the first Friday of each month, May through December.