Summerville Town Council approved an ordinance on August 13 creating an Outdoor Entertainment District downtown. It took effect immediately.
Inside the district, people can carry beer and wine on foot Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Beer and wine only. Outside those hours and boundaries, the town's normal alcohol rules apply.
The boundaries
The district covers portions of South Cedar Street, West and East Doty Avenue, South Magnolia Street, South Main Street, East and West Richardson Avenue, Central Avenue, and West 2nd South Street.
Participation is opt-in and opt-out for individual businesses. Nobody is forced in.
Why a town does this
Town leaders looked at a comparable program in Hartsville before writing the ordinance. Mayor Russ Touchberry has spoken about the district's design and rationale.
The mechanic behind these districts is simple. When someone can walk from a restaurant to a shop with a drink in hand, they stay downtown longer, and the businesses that benefit most are frequently the ones that do not sell alcohol at all. The boutique, the gallery, the bookstore, and the gift shop all pick up traffic from people who would otherwise have finished dinner and driven home.
If you are a Summerville business
Two practical things. First, decide whether you are opting in, and say so on your window and your social accounts, because customers will not guess. Second, Thursday through Saturday, 11 to 8, is now a defined window worth building promotions around.
Summerville also has an unusually good fall calendar to layer onto this. The Sweet Tea Festival is September 19 at Hutchinson Square. Sweetest Third Thursday is September 17. The Summerville Italian Feast is November 15. Those are the days to have your best offer in front of people.
Sources
What's Going On In Charleston, Summerville approves downtown open-container entertainment district
What's Up Summerville, Sweet Tea Festival
Summerville Italian Feast, Official site
First reported by whatsgoingonincharleston.net.