Davidson becomes 4th Lake Norman town to approve open container social districts
The Davidson Town Board voted unanimously last week to approve two downtown social districts which will allow residents to take their alcoholic drinks on-the-go.
Lake Norman communities Mooresville, Huntersville and Cornelius already have social districts in place.
Social districts are newly possible in North Carolina thanks to House Bill 890, a measure allowing cities and counties to define outdoor spaces where people can legally drink alcoholic beverages bought from a state-permitted business.
In Davidson, one social district will include areas along North Main Street and South Main Street, and the other will be at The Circles at 30, where concerts are typically held, according to Davidson Economic Development Director Kim Fleming.
The social districts would operate every day from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., according to the proposal that was approved May 9. Businesses would be required to have signage indicating they are part of the social district, and serve alcohol in cups that display the town-approved social district logo.
“All of the work that needs to go into training our businesses, getting the signage and getting cups is going to take a little while to get done,” Commissioner Jane Campbell said. “We want to be thoughtful about the timing of that and making sure that our pedestrian orientation is always a top priority.”
Since House Bill 890 was passed, social districts have been implemented in 40 municipalities across North Carolina, Fleming told the board, including Mooresville, Huntersville and Cornelius.
“We have not heard of any problems that have come from any implementation of a social district in North Carolina,” Fleming said.
