Murphy – The town council’s openness to having alcohol on downtown streets finally dried up Monday night.
By a 5-1 vote, council members backed a motion by Frank Dickey to reject a proposed ordinance that would have established a limited “social district” in the downtown area during Murphy Art Walks, which are held from 5-8 p.m. on the first Friday of each month, May through December. A social district is a designated area within a town or city where alcoholic beverages can be carried out of restaurants in open containers onto streets and into certain other establishments.
Although council members remained noncommittal about a social district following the town’s November meeting, most indicated an openness to a trial period centered around an event such as the Murphy Art Walk.
Public pressure appears to have made the difference. Three local residents spoke out against the social district during public comment Monday, appealing to conservative Christian beliefs about drinking and raising questions about liabilities associated with the district. Many more people packed the council’s meeting room to observe the vote.
“I feel like in light of listening to our constituents and their ideas and thoughts it’s not a 100 percent agreeable thing,” council member Charlene Smith said. “I don’t know that it would be fully understood, the rules, and I could see some things that would slide through the cracks and maybe not work, so I don’t feel like it’s the time to do this right now.”
Added council member Barbara Hughes: “I just don’t feel good about it. I just don’t think it’s the time.”
Council member Keisha Dockery, who first brought up the idea of a social district in July, was the lone vote in favor of it. Dockery’s proposal received initial interest and support from multiple council members in July, including suggestions to do a trial run during the September Art Walk.
Jeff Crane spoke during public comment Monday night and said that while he did not consider himself a “good Christian,” he wanted to speak from the Bible.
“It seems to me that putting a positive light on the subject of reveling can only end in the parties regretting their involvement,” Crane said. “ ... I’m not saying that this is what’s going to happen at the social district in Murphy, but in Greek writing, it (reveling) was a nocturnal and riotous procession of half-drunk and frolicsome fellows, who after parading through the streets with torches and music in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine and spirits, reveling was generally used for feasts and drinking parties that were protracted late into the evening.”
Crane then read passages about drinking from the books of Paul and Peter contained within the Bible. He also argued that he could potentially be arrested for having an open container in his car if he purchased a cup of alcohol and later put it in a cup holder inside his vehicle.
A social district is 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 general assembly in September 2021.
Nearby Sylva got its social district off the ground in April as part of a six-month test program. During the Murphy town council’s October meeting, Town Manager Chad Simons said he reached out to Sylva’s police chief to get information on “any increase in drunk and disorderly type of conduct, litter,” and other types of issues.
“They actually put their social district in their CAD system, so they can actually track in real-time their calls associated with it,” Simons said.
“They compared it to 2019, and no increases whatsoever.”