Latest news with #sipandstroll
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Concord City Council to hold public hearing on possible social district
Concord city councilors voted unanimously this week to hold a public hearing next month on a proposal to create a social district, a designated area where patrons can buy alcohol and take it with them. When the new law takes effect next month, New Hampshire will become the ninth state to allow people to purchase alcohol at local bars and restaurants, then take it with them in a to-go cup while moving through designated 'sip and stroll' areas downtown. Local officials determine the boundaries of the social district, then work with the liquor commission and the state to ensure that all requirements under state law are met and develop a working plan to ensure safety in the district. Elected boards in communities that adopt the social districts are also given the authority to limit the hours when the activity is allowed. Voters must then approve creation of a social district at town meeting or a city election. 'I'll be supporting this action,' said City Councilor Jennifer Kretovic. 'I think it's really important for our community to look at the organizations we support, like InTown Concord — for Market Days, they typically have a beer tent. This would allow them to have a social district at their event, it could be more expansive and more inclusive. It'll also allow the opportunity for other nonprofit organizations to as well, have events. 'We are about to embark on our 250th/300th anniversary in the city of Concord — and oddly enough, our Constitution was ratified because people were drinking alcohol.' The statute takes effect on Sept. 5. State Rep. Bill Boyd, R-Merrimack, sponsored HB 467, modeling it after one that North Carolina adopted in 2021 and working with Chief Mark Armaganian, director of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission's Division of Enforcement and Licensing. The new ordinance restricts open containers to materials other than glass, usually plastic cups, with no more than 16 fluid ounces in them at one time. Stickers or other labels are required, and drink limits are enforced. Drinks cannot be carried outside of social district boundaries, which are marked with prominent signs. Maps of the district boundaries are posted online. Anyone with alcohol still in the cup and exiting the social district must throw it away unless the person is going back to the place where the alcohol was purchased from initially. Concord Deputy City Solicitor John Conforti said he city currently grants licenses to several licensees to expand the service area for alcoholic beverages adjacent to their properties. 'Social districts would allow a designated alcoholic beverage consumption area that is shared by multiple establishments that are licensed to sell alcohol,' Conforti said. 'It appears that districts can be established on a temporary basis with limitations on hours or days of operation. Social districts must be clearly defined both by location and time and dates when the district is in effect. Businesses that wish to participate must only sell alcohol on their premises in containers that are subject to strict labeling and size requirements. 'Moreover, patrons cannot bring alcohol from one establishment within the district into another.' Additional administrative rules related to social districts are expected from the Liquor Commission. Municipalities that are interested in social districts are required to hold a public hearing on putting a question on a ballot on establishing one locally at least 15 days but no more than 30 days before the election. If Concord is looking to put the question on a ballot for the Nov. 4 municipal election, a public hearing must be held at the council's Sept. 8 meeting to determine if the public is interested in doing so, officials said. 'We don't have any particular areas in mind,' City Manager Tom Aspell said. 'It's just, if you want to keep this option out there, this has to be on the ballot that comes up in November.' 'Approving it on the ballot would just give you the opportunity to set up social districts in the future,' Conforti said. 'You — the municipality — would then have to make a decision on where you would set it up, and then there's a maintenance plan that would need to be established and submitted to the Liquor Commission. The Liquor Commission would then need to approve that. So there are a number of things that we already know need to happen.' Concord City Councilor Ali Sekou asked if the city has the authority to dictate how much alcohol people can consume. 'People that have their license have to take that ownership,' Conforti said. 'The responsibility for serving and all the rules and laws associated with that remain with the licensee who's serving the alcohol. We will have some responsibilities with regard to maintaining the district and signage and security and those types of things, and making sure that we make clear where the boundaries are of that district, but in terms of the actual service that that responsibility would remain with the licensee.' Nashua officials have discussed the possibility of creating a social district. Legislators from Portsmouth and North Conway said it was likely to be seriously considered there as well. Jodie Nazaka, Manchester's economic development director, said in May her department hasn't heard any businesses or aldermen express interest in establishing this type of district in Manchester. An attempt to reach her this week for an updated comment was unsuccessful. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill allowing 'social districts' in NH communities awaits governor's signature
A bill on Gov. Kelly Ayotte's desk awaiting her signature is creating quite a buzz around the state. HB467 would allow cities and towns in New Hampshire to establish 'social districts' — areas where people are allowed to purchase alcohol at local bars and restaurants, then take it with them in a to-go cup while moving through designated 'sip and stroll' areas. State Rep. Bill Boyd, R-Merrimack, told members of the state Senate Commerce Committee he modeled HB 467 after legislation in North Carolina, working closely with Chief Mark Armaganian, director of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission's Division of Enforcement and Licensing. 'It's a local-option bill,' Boyd said. 'Should this be enacted, if communities want to have a social district, they can do so, and they can work with liquor enforcement and their local law enforcement to create a plan that makes the best sense for that community.' Voters would have to approve creation of a social district at town meeting or a city election. Local officials would determine the boundaries of the social district, then work with the liquor commission and the state to be able to make sure that all requirements under state law are met and develop a working plan to ensure safety in the district. Brodie Deshaies, a legislative advocate with the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said the association supports the bill. 'We've had members reach out in the past and contact us about how they could set up a process like this,' Deshaies said. 'There was nothing that currently permitted towns to adopt these types of districts or to allow people to carry open containers between businesses that are all in close vicinity of each other. 'We view this as a great private/public partnership, and the state helping fulfill its role to help create guidelines — or guardrails — along that process.' Gauging interest It's unclear how interested businesses in places like Manchester are in establishing social districts — at least at this time. Owners of several downtown businesses along Elm Street seemed indifferent about the concept when quizzed this past week. Jodie Nazaka, Manchester's economic development director, said her department doesn't have a position either for or against HB 467. 'I haven't had any businesses or aldermen express interest in establishing this type of district in Manchester,' Nazaka said in an email. 'If there were general interest from business owners in the downtown area, we would certainly look into the merits of the concept.' Nazaka said she has seen social districts successfully implemented in other areas of the country, including Raleigh, North Carolina, which she experienced last summer. 'There are definitely rules and restrictions associated with these districts, so they're not as unrestricted as some might imagine, like Bourbon Street in New Orleans or the Las Vegas Strip,' Nazaka said. 'I'm interested in seeing where this conversation may lead. For now, at least to my knowledge, there isn't much interest in pursuing this in Manchester.' Boyd said communities like Raleigh and Savannah, Georgia, have had 'tremendous success' with social districts. 'There's so many different types of social districts that exist now today, in Georgia and North Carolina and Michigan, the creativity as to what can happen as a result of this particular concept can only benefit the economic development of a particular community that seeks to create it,' Boyd said. Boyd said Tuscan Village in Salem has its own social district, which operates on private property, but they worked closely with Armaganian and the liquor enforcement team to come up with something that makes sense for the site. 'Government-sponsored drinking' Not everyone loves the idea of social districts. Bob Bevill of Merrimack, a justice of the peace in Hillsborough County, submitted testimony via email opposing the bill, calling it 'government-sponsored 'pub-crawling'' that will create an enforcement burden on towns, could increase liability premiums for some businesses, and provides 'absolutely no benefit to the taxpayers.' 'Based on similar legislation from North Carolina, these 'zones' would allow for specially-marked alcoholic beverage cups to be transported out of the bars and restaurants' where people 'may freely walk from place to place carrying their alcoholic beverages in public,' Bevill writes. 'These cups would be 'containers (that) clearly displays a logo or some other mark that is unique to the social district in which it will be consumed.' Hence, government-sponsored drinking.' Bevill asked who would be responsible for determining if a customer has been overserved in a social district. 'In most establishments, it is the waitstaff or barkeep who has a running tab and knows exactly how much alcohol has been purchased,' Bevill writes. 'But between zone businesses? If someone has too much to drink and kills a family, do we apportion the damages against all of the merchants in the social district? Or do we have to investigate which establishment served them last?' Margaret Konze of Pembroke was short and to the point on the subject. 'We don't need more public drunkenness in New Hampshire.' Drew Cline, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, spoke before the Senate Commerce Committee in support of the bill. He said he often visits his hometown of Hickory, North Carolina, which has a downtown social district. In the past, it was 'always the same thing, looking around at the vacant storefronts,' Cline said. 'Last year I went back, and I am not exaggerating, there is not a single vacant storefront in downtown Hickory, North Carolina. In the entire downtown. 'Hickory is a mill town, it was a textile and furniture manufacturing town — this might sound familiar to a lot of people in New Hampshire — and not a single vacant storefront.' pfeely@
