Survey: Should people be allowed to drink alcohol on sidewalks of downtown Fayetteville?
Fayetteville’s proposed “social district” — an area for people to legally drink alcoholic beverages on the street and sidewalk outside the confines of a restaurant or bar — would cover much of downtown and might get started in the next few months on a test basis, said Bianca Shoneman, the president and CEO of the Cool Spring Downtown District.
In the meantime, the Cool Spring organization is asking for members of the public for their opinions on and suggestions for the social district. The survey runs through Friday, Aug. 26, and asks whether a social district would be a good idea, the days and hours it should operate, and what the district’s name should be.
People who wish to participate can get the survey online at surveymonkey.com/r/HMFZVRQ.
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Take the survey: Click here to give your thoughts on a social drinking district in downtown Fayetteville.
The social district map: Click here to see where you might be able to walk about with an adult beverage in hand.
Social districts are a new concept in North Carolina, legalized last year by the legislature and governor. As of Friday afternoon, nine other cities and towns have created social districts, the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission said.
State law normally prohibits the consumption of alcohol on public streets and sidewalks. But in a social district, people would be allowed to buy a beverage and drink it while moving about.
The Cool Spring Downtown District, which promotes arts and entertainment in Fayetteville’s downtown, is “exploring the merchant and community temperature” on the idea here, Shoneman said. The goal is to create “a walkable, friendly environment that puts feet on the street and diners in the seats,” she said.
Following the COVID pandemic, “It will take a long, long time before people are comfortable being crowded shoulder to shoulder in small spaces,” she said. “As the evolution of our new normal takes hold, this will give the public the ability to be outside and enjoy what downtown has to offer.”
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The map of the proposed social district shows it would run along the Hay and Person streets corridor through the middle of downtown, and extend to Franklin Street and Russell Street on one side and Old and Bow streets on the other.
One end starts by the train tracks at Winslow Street, by the Amtrak train station and the new city parking deck, and is anchored there by Segra Stadium off Hay Street and Bright Light Brewing Co. on Russell Street.
The social district’s other end stops on Person Street at the intersection of Person Street, Bow Street, and the Otis F. Jones Parkway near the Cumberland County Courthouse.
After getting public feedback, Shoneman said, the Cool Springs organization hopes to bring the idea to the City Council in September and to ask have the council vote to implement the social district on a pilot program basis through the end of the calendar year.
Senior North Carolina reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Should people be allowed to drink alcohol on sidewalks, Fayetteville?
