CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bar and restaurant owners are preparing to be in Charlotte’s first social district, located in the heart of Plaza Midwood.
The district will allow customers to walk outside with open containers of alcoholic drinks during certain hours.
The state first started allowing social districts in 2021 with dozens already implemented in cities and towns across North Carolina.
Monday, the Charlotte City Council voted 8-2 to make a large portion of Central Avenue in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood the city’s first district.
The Plaza Midwood Merchants Association will manage the area with a committee of business owners and residents.
The social district will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday, and all drinks must be served in a specified 16-ounce cup, which cannot be glass.
An exact start date is unclear, Dish restaurant owner Amanda Cranford said she expected it to begin in early 2024.
“I think it will inevitably help and eventually help,” Cranford said Thursday about the district.
Cranford owns the Plaza Midwood staple, which will be within the new social district. Cranford said her business plans to opt in to participating, but questions remain.
“Everyone can continue to drink alcohol till 2 a.m. However, businesses will have to enforce the fact that we cannot sell to-go alcohol after 10 p.m., so I feel like that’s probably going to be the biggest logistical issue,” Cranford said, referencing the social district’s to-go alcohol hours.
Overall, Cranford said she thought the Merchants Association was doing a good job involving business owners in the process and educating them about what the social district will entail and require.
“It’s been in the works for a little bit, the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association has brought it up a couple times,” Cranford said about the year-long process to get Plaza Midwood’s district approved.
The district will run from Louise Avenue east to Morningside Drive along Central Avenue with a wider area stretching from Central down Pecan Avenue and over to The Plaza.
Further down Central Avenue, Pinhouse’s owner, Rich Moyer, said they are likely going to opt in.
“We hope that it’s going to stretch Plaza Midwood and allow people to maybe be in the heart of Plaza and grab a drink and walk down to say us and Clubhouse and Resident Culture on this side of town,” Moyer said behind the bar at Pinhouse.
The self-pour tap house opened in 2019 and added a full-service liquor bar a few years later. Moyer’s Hoppin’ Brands has other locations in Charlotte and across the country.
However, Moyer also had questions about the new district and what it could mean for businesses like his.
“Just getting the final legalities of it and understanding what we’re going to be required to do fully,” Moyer said. “And, what liabilities we have if somebody was to take a drink from our location and maybe give it to an underage person or get into some altercation or something that happens.“
The new district does have specific liability and insurance requirements for participating businesses. Businesses within the social district do not have to participate in the program but do have to register if they decide to take part.