The Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center was host on May 20 to a Chamber of Commerce forum regarding an Entertainment District, renamed Social District, for downtown Eureka Springs. Coltan Scrivener presented the working plan with Chamber Marketing Coordinator Devin Henderson acting as discussion moderator.
The current plan would be in the boundaries of S. Main from Red’s Pizzeria to Spring to Howell St., down German Alley to Center Street to Chelsea’s. The district would then turn down Mountain to go to N. Main and back to Spring. The district would be 7-days a week running 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. with various locations with signage to show where the district ends and begins.
Non-glass containers, 20 oz. limit, would be used with participants needing to receive a wristband from a participating bar or restaurant. The wristbands would also include a QR code that would link to the district’s webpage with rules and regulations. Three types of stickers for business windows would also be available, one to show they can serve drinks for the district, one that says the business allows the carry in of district drinks, and one to show that the business does not allow drinks inside.
Scrivener also covered the “why” behind the social district, which included reinforcing tourism in the city and increasing cross business traffic among restaurants, bars, and retail. He said the district’s goal would be to drive traffic downtown. The change of name to social district was a mixture of most other states calling districts that allow alcohol “Social Districts,” the fact that there would not be additional entertainment like “Entertainment District” implies, as well as to avoid the notion that the district would be truly permanent and unable to be revoked should it go poorly.
The Chamber of Commerce would handle signage while the CAPC would maintain the webpage with the regulations. Bartenders would still be responsible for ID checks when it comes to wrist bands and retain their responsibilities when it comes to intoxication and alcohol service. People would not be allowed to bring alcohol into the district, and it was noted that other towns have used 16 oz. stainless steel reusable containers for their districts though no specific containers were chosen at this meeting.
In covering how success or failure would be determined, Scrivener said that business owner/tourist sentiment would be a metric; specifically an increase in foot traffic without an increase in nuisance. Also, an increase in city sales tax collected for retail and CAPC bar/restaurant taxes compared to months in previous years without an increase in crime or alcohol related calls compared to the same months in previous years.
Special event permits would also not change protocol for the city. So events such as Oktoberfest or Center Street Block Party that need permits to have alcohol vendors on the street would still need to go through the current process. The only businesses permitted to sell drinks for the district would be bars and restaurants. For example, if there were a liquor store downtown because the ABC permit is different than a restaurant or bar’s, they would be unable to sell alcohol for the district.
Scrivener presented a comparative study of another town that had a social district enacted, Sylva, North Carolina. He showed that, just like Eureka Springs, conversation around the district when first suggested and implemented showed locals concerned about public safety and infrastructure needs. The town’s population is comparable to Eureka Springs, a small tourist destination with a similar sized police force. Scrivener showed clippings from the town’s local newspaper wherein members of city council who originally opposed the district became supportive a year after implementation. He also showed stats of retail and brewery sales going up 30 and 42 percent, respectively.
Scrivener noted that just like Sylva, many towns that implement a social district begin with a trial period. He also said that alcohol related nuisance complaints had not increased. He mentioned that he had visited Sylva in the past year.
There was concern among some audience members that the Chamber had not reached out to enough downtown retailers to poll their current sentiments. There was also concern over the number of bathrooms available downtown to visitors and how signage would be paid for.
Sidewalks and the terrain were also a concern with some criticism over the district going down the lower section of Mountain St. which does not have a sidewalk. For those streets with sidewalks, it was mentioned that it was up to the city to enforce property owners to properly repair them and that the city was in the process of doing so.