Communities weigh risks, benefits of outdoor entertainment districts

NEW OHIO LAW

A new state law allowing alcohol in designated outdoor entertainment areas could have a significant economic impact in Butler County, with some communities keenly interested in such districts and the revenue they may generate. However. not everyone is eager to adopt the idea.

The law, House Bill 47, allows cities or townships with populations ranging from 35,000 to 50,000 to designate one “outdoor refreshment area” where people could legally walk outside with open containers of alcohol, exempting them from Ohio’s open-container law, which generally prohibits a person from carrying an open container of beer or liquor in public.

Cities or townships with more than 50,000 residents are allowed to create two outdoor refreshment areas. Some residents, businesses and event organizers say designating outdoor drinking areas could spark a community’s economy and drive more people to its downtown or central gathering area. The idea is to allow for entertainment districts similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn. But people wouldn’t be permitted to bring in their own drinks.

Five Butler County communities are eligible to create the districts, including West Chester and Liberty townships, as well as the cities of Hamilton, Middletown and Fairfield. Governments in those communities would have to designate the areas first.

Officials those areas had a mixed reaction to the law, with some, like West Chester Twp., expressing interest in such a district, while Middletown takes more of a “wait and see” approach. On the other hand, Fairfield is not so interested in the idea, even though it is eligible.

In an ideal setting, such a district could have a “phenomenal” impact, according to Brandon Saurber, the city of Hamilton’s chief of staff.

Although city officials have had “what if” conversations about various locations, they prefer to see how other districts develop elsewhere instead of immediately forming one of their own, Saurber said.

“I think it’s really premature for us to really make a decision on where or even whether or not it’s really something that we want to pursue,” he said. “We have to think through the social costs. Are there littering (issues within such districts)? Is there going to be the need for increased police patrols?”

If Hamilton officials were to move forward with the idea, it likely would be implemented in a walkable areas like the city’s urban core and traditional neighborhoods, especially places that could meet the requirement of four liquor licenses within a certain area, Saurber said.

Middletown officials have said such an area could work downtown in the area of Central Avenue and Broad Street, home to the popular Broad Street Bash concert series, which serves alcohol. However, talks of a district are only preliminary, said David VanArsdale, the city’s public safety director.

“We’ve just talked about it informally at the city. If someone was interested in doing it and it could be controlled properly so that we don’t have issues, I could see it being downtown,” he said.

However, the Broad Street Bash is not put on by the city. One of its organizers, Adriane Scherrer, said an outdoor entertainment area could both help and hurt the Bash.

“It’s positive in the sense that competition is a good thing. But it also sets up a competition for what beer sales occur,” she said.

However, the Bash has evolved since it began in 2007, developing more of a family-friendly focus in recent years. While the Bash once sold about 100 cases of beer, these days it sells about 80, Scherrer said.

“Our bounce houses and climbing walls bring more people than they used to because more families are coming out,” Scherrer said.

How that might impact an outdoor entertainment district in Middletown is not known yet. However, that very family focus is why such a district looks unlikely in Fairfield. Such an area could go in the Village Green, but the city holds family-friendly events there such as the Red, White and Kaboom Fourth of July celebration and the Groovin’ on the Green concert series.

“An open container district would completely alter the character of that area in a way for the community … that’s more for urbanized areas like the Banks (in Cincinnati). I don’t see us having anything like that in Fairfield,” City Manager Mark Wendling said.

West Chester Twp. is more receptive to the idea. Township Trustee George Lang said he’s experienced the celebratory vibe of both Beale and Bourbon streets and can envision open-drink entertainment districts working in the township, as well.

“You can see the atmosphere at the local festivals where people are able to, within a confined piece of property, walk around and have an open container of alcohol,” Lang said. “It just creates more of a festive atmosphere.”

He said can foresee as many as four locations where an open-drink district could work, including The Streets of West Chester to the east of Interstate 75, The Square @ Union Centre to the west of I-75, Voice of America Centre just off Tylersville Road and the shopping center just south of Liberty Way that will be the home of Cabela’s and other yet-to-be-announced businesses.

Although he said he anticipates township trustees will eventually pass legislation to create such a district, it should be done without rushing to vote on the matter.

“We really need to take a hard look at this, consult with police and make sure what we’re doing makes sense from a safety perspective, as well as a revenue enhancement perspective for our businesses,” Lang said.

West Chester Twp. Trustee Lee Wong said he’s in favor of using the new law to ease restrictions in certain areas.

“I think it is good for business, as long as it is controlled,” Wong said.

Don Fecher, a resident of West Chester Twp., said he’s all in favor of open-drink zones, which he said are “a lot of fun.”

Each zone he’s experienced in various communities outside Ohio have had patrons who are respectful and businesses that are collaborative, Fecher said.

“All the bars are working together to create a good entertainment district instead of being for themselves,” he said.

Having such a district would solve the problem of what to do with overflow crowds on some nights and create a “festive atmosphere” for the surrounding area, said Dingle House co-owner William James.

“This gives people the opportunity to carry a beer with them on the way back to their residence or any of the hotels that are in the immediate area,” he said. “I don’t think it will cause them to drink more, it just gives them more flexibility.”

Dingle House general manager Scott Inlow said bar owners might have to more closely monitor what comes into their business, but “overall, it would be a great situation.”

“People would be more apt to stay in the area, stay at the pub, especially during the summer when we have (After Hours on the Square) every Thursday,” he said.

The idea also appeals to Becky Wilber, president of the Union Centre Boulevard Merchants Association, the main sponsor for next week’s Buckeye BBQ Fest and the organizer for August’s Union Centre Food Truck Rally.

Open-drink districts would help generate more foot traffic for area businesses and create a sense of community via socialization, Wilber said.

“I’ve been in a lot of communities where they do that and I think it’s beneficial as long as it’s controlled and it doesn’t affect other activities going on,” she said.

Wilber said having such a district also could spawn more festivals and fairs, which would in turn draw even more people to area businesses.

She points to the success enjoyed by Old Scottsdale, Ariz., which promotes a weekly Thursday night event that features sidewalk musicians and Arizona artists to exhibit and sell their creations.

“People there definitely loved it and the community came because they allowed alcohol on their streets and people went from business to business to business … visiting with each other,” she said. “Apparently, what used to be a tired business area now was revived because they had some of their laws.”

Liberty Twp. Trustee Christine Matacic said the area that makes the most sense in the township would be the $350-million Liberty Center mega-retail project near the I-75 and Liberty Way exchange.

Set to open in October, the community within a community will feature everything from shops, restaurants, bars and an outdoor performance area to multistory residential, hotel and office complexes, making it well suited for an open-drink zone.

“If we end up doing it, and that’s an if, there’s a lot of details that have to happen,” Matacic said. “The details are going to be what we have to look at and that’s why I’ve always suggested that we look down to the city of Cincinnati and other communities around the area and see how they put theirs together.”

Matacic also said it would be a wise move to seek out other areas of the country with similar districts to examine the cost factor and best practices, including how much policing needs to be done.

“Obviously if you have open containers in an area, you have to have some kind of restrictions, some kind of a way to regulate how it actually happens,” she said.

Entertainment districts can spur economic development if designed correctly with the right mix and density of product, said Mark Hecquet, executive director for the Butler County Visitors Bureau.

‘Take especially Fourth Street Live! in Louisville,” he said. “It is a hub of entertainment. It is a place where people want to go, they want to be, they want to hangout. A visitor, when they go to Louisville, wants to go to Fourth Street Live! because they’ve created that environment.”

It also can attract other businesses, including restaurants, “because you’ve got the built-in product and allure,” he said.

“Just creating a district to create a district is not enough,” Hecquet said. “There needs to be some meat on the bones in terms of the depth of what’s being offered. Bringing a whole bunch of different, unique experiences into one area is very alluring to a visitor. It becomes a meeting point, a gathering point of sorts.”

Safety isn’t typically an issue because there’s “a heightened sensitivity” in such districts, he said.

“Security is more aware and ready to act in the event of anything getting out of place, and it is still a controlled environment,” Hecquet said.

Fecher said the outdoor open-drink areas should be contained to small area, such as in The Streets of West Chester, a still-expanding West Chester Twp. shopping and dining destination just east of Interstate 75’s Union Centre Boulevard exit.

“As long as it’s in there, I’m OK with that,” he said. “When you have bars a couple of blocks away, that’s overextending it.”

West Chester Police Chief Joel Herzog said he’s heard from other law enforcement agencies that open-drink districts are relatively without incident because “more or less, you’re self-policing.”

“These aren’t wild parties,” Herzog said. “These are people that just want to sit on a park bench and have a drink outside the establishment. Not all establishments have an outdoor area, so this allows for moving around and just to spend a little more time as you relax.”