The Durham City Council voted unanimously on Monday night in favor of creating a downtown social district to allow people to drink outdoors.
City documentation shows the social district could start as soon as Dec. 1. Durham’s social district would run from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. seven days a week.
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“We will be ever vigilant, and we will be watching safe and happy times in downtown Durham for everybody,” Mayor Elaine O’Neal said after Monday night’s vote.
The boundaries of the social district include nearly all of downtown Durham.
Economic development agency Downtown Durham Inc. (DDI) hopes to run the social district instead of Durham city staff, a distinction from other municipalities with social districts.
Durham City Mayor Pro-Tempore Mark-Anthony said he was convinced the city is on “good ground” after reading a memo written by City Attorney Kimberly Rehberg on how everything would work.
“We are not using city staff,” Anthony said. “We are shopping this out to DDI, who is well established [and] well known to us.”
The ordinance only covers open containers in specially-branded cups. Only businesses with North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) permits can sell them.
The city of Durham is set to enforce violations with a noncriminal infraction punishable by a fine up to $100, according to the ordinance.
Participation in the social district is voluntary. No business located in the social district is required to participate. Both the permittee and non-permittee businesses that participate in the district must have a sign indicating their participation in the district.
The ordinance states businesses can be punished with civil penalties of $250 per day, maxing out at $2,000.
Before Monday night’s vote, Durham resident Jacqueline Wagstaff expressed her concerns about Durham’s social district to the city council. Wang said she studied the city of Raleigh’s social district, which launched in August.
“There are several things that are not going to be pleasing to the community,” Wagstaff said. “Urination, public intoxication, trash, defecation and all of the things that come with public intoxication.”
On Monday night, Wagstaff mentioned arrests along Raleigh’s Glenwood Avenue, which is not an area included in the city’s social district.
Wagstaff, who ran for the Durham City Council in November 2019, said she thinks the new rules should apply throughout the city of Durham, not just downtown.
Middleton said city leaders have previously discussed equity issues that come with the social district.
“I think that’s something we always need to bring up,” Middleton said.
At-Large Councilmember Jillian Johnson said she thinks Durham’s new social district will make the downtown more inviting to pedestrians.
“I’m not worried about like hordes of drunken folks … in front of cars, I don’t really think that’s going to be a problem,” Johnson said. “But, I do think it would be more pleasant, in general, to have a car-free space.”
Johnson expressed her concern about the enforcement of the district, even though she voted to approve it.
“My concerns are more that somebody who is drinking beer on the street a mile outside the district is going to be treated differently than somebody who is drinking beer in the district,” Johnson said. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t approve this.
“It means that we should continue to treat those sorts of minor infractions as the extremely minor infractions that they are, and that our police department should continue to focus on keeping us safe in the ways that matter.”
Johnson said Police Chief Patrice Andrews assured her that would continue to be the case.
During the Durham City Council’s 1 p.m. Thursday work session, city leaders are set to discuss a management plan for the social district. City councilmembers are also expected to authorize City Manager Wanda Page to enter negotiations and execute an agreement with DDI. It would allow DDI to serve as the city’s designee for the downtown social district.
In September 2021, North Carolina lawmakers passed a law allowing cities and towns to create social districts.