The area where off-premises alcoholic beverage consumption is allowed in public will be expanded when the city hosts its St. Patrick’s Day celebration in October.
An ordinance adopted earlier this week by the Hot Springs Board of Directors expanded the boundaries of the Broadway Entertainment District, moving them north to include the Hill Wheatley Plaza parking lot, south down Malvern Avenue to Church Street and Broadway to Market Street and east up Convention Boulevard to Opera Street.
The old boundaries were from Spring to Broadway streets. The new area will be the Bridge Street Entertainment District, replacing the Broadway District the board formed in 1999.
“We look forward to hosting the first event there,” Deputy City Manager Lance Spicer told the board. “St. Patrick’s Day held in October will likely be one of the first events there.”
Spicer said the success of the St. Patrick’s event, which was moved to October this year because of the coronavirus, required the expansion. The Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission, the event organizer, requested the new boundaries.
Spicer said city approval will continue to be required to open the district. Event organizers will submit a special event application to use the district, whereas other cities’ districts operate at specific dates and times throughout the year.
Spicer said the permit process allows the city to plan what services will be needed to accommodate events. Applicants also have to be insured.
“You’re determining who’s holding the event and the number of attendees,” he said, noting that the city can choose to open only parts of the district. “It really helps with police and fire, public safety, solid waste, etc. You have a well-planned, well-thought-out event.”
The Legislature last year refined the state’s entertainment district laws, including requiring the adoption of an ordinance to authorize their formation. The Broadway District was authorized by resolution.
New language included in the state code section on alcoholic beverages exempted entertainment districts from the regulation prohibiting possession of alcoholic beverages outside of a permitted establishment where the beverage was purchased.
The miscellaneous regulations subchapter of the code’s local government section was amended to include a definition of entertainment districts, describing them as contiguous areas zoned for or customarily used for commercial purposes. They include areas where bars, music venues, theaters, art galleries, concert halls, dance clubs and tourist destinations are located.
Only an incorporated area where a hospitality tax is levied on prepared food and lodging and that’s in a county where alcoholic beverages are sold can form a district. The districts can be permanent, or, as in the case of Hot Springs, temporary.
The city board asked about the possibility of additional districts downtown, but staff said it required more study. Highway 7, a state right of way, runs through downtown and could only be closed with approval from the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The diversity of downtown businesses could also be a complication.
“When you look at our downtown, you have so many different types of retail mixed in with some of the areas that do serve alcohol,” City Manager Bill Burrough said. “It’s going to take a little more study.”