Council Isn’t Sold on Proposal to Create Social District Downtown

Some members of the East Lansing City Council aren’t sold on a proposal to create a social district downtown, which people would be allowed to carry and consume alcohol within.

The top concern among council members was enforcing the rules of the district and making sure people are only consuming alcohol from approved businesses within the district.

Members of the Downtown Development Authority expressed interest in testing out a social district. At the June 5 DDA meeting, the DDA voted unanimously to support creating a social district with boundaries that closely resemble those of the Albert El Fresco area downtown. 

A social district would be attractive to people who would like to bring drinks from downtown businesses to tables set up in the El Fresco area, or events and concerts that take place in the space, recently hired DDA Executive Director Marcia Gebarowski said. 

The district could receive a brief trial run this summer but with the questions raised by council, it may take until next year for the social district to be put in place – if it is approved at all. 

City would have control over what social district looks like. 

At last week’s DDA meeting, Gebarowski explained that social districts have become more popular since the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily pushed some restaurant activity outside. 

In Michigan, 144 municipalities have social districts, including Lansing which has four different social districts, and Ann Arbor, which has an 11-block social district. Gebarowski said municipalities have the power to control and amend components that make up a social district, including the season and boundaries the district operates within. 

The city began to explore creating the social district because it was a common request from residents surveyed about the El Fresco space. Additionally, Gebarowski said many business owners favor having a social district. 

“The businesses so far have been completely behind it,” she said. “A number of them, Jolly Pumpkin, Mash, are regional, so they do have other locations in cities across the state that they do participate in the social district.”

The proposal allows seven restaurants to apply to participate in the social district: Barrio Taco, Jolly Pumpkin, Mash Bar, The Riv, El Azteco, Fieldhouse and Hopcat.

Right now, the proposed district has borders similar to the El Fresco space downtown – with some extension to include The Riv. The borders of the social district would be made clear by signage, if the district is put into place. 

The social district’s borders can be changed from year to year, to include more or fewer restaurants if the city chooses to. Each restaurant included in the district would need to go to City Council and the state to receive approval to participate. If the district is put in place, it can later be rescinded by council, Gebarowski said. 

The current proposal is for the district to be open from the second Thursday in May through the first Saturday in August. During that period, the social district would be open Thursday-Saturday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

At the DDA meeting, Gebarowski said the district could be open by August of this year, but the city would need to approve it quickly to allow time for the permitting process. 

Gebarowski said if the district is approved, the next step would be to expand it to include other restaurants outside the El Fresco area – like those further down Albert Avenue or on Grand River Avenue. 

The city would not need to block off streets to expand the social district, rather it would just need to set up signage that makes clear what the boundaries are. 

When the DDA voted unanimously to support putting the social district in place, members seemed warm to the idea – pointing out that social districts have been successful in many other cities.

Council has enforcement concerns about the social district.

Council talked about the social district at a discussion-only (typically non-voting) meeting, but raised doubt that the district will be put in place.

The top concern was challenges to enforcing liquor laws within the district. The current proposal is for the DDA to purchase cups to give to participating businesses, so drinks purchased at approved restaurants can be easily identified. Gebarowski clarified that liquor stores are not eligible to be part of a social district. 

At the council meeting, Police Chief Jen Brown said that when the city briefly had a similar setup during the COVID-19 pandemic, officers saw “significant problems” with people buying drinks from liquor stores near the district and pouring them into the social district cups. 

“There’s nothing that prevents me from getting a cup from, let’s say El Az[teco], walking down the street… drinking it, setting it in a bush, walking into 7-Eleven, buying my new beer, putting it in [the cup],” Councilmember Mark Meadows said. “I don’t see how this helps the brick and mortar businesses that we have in the downtown area.”

Cities do different things to identify approved cups. For example, some put stickers on disposable cups, Gebarowski said. 

Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh said that the city could take creative approaches to help enforcement.

“We could print cups with different dates,” Singh said. 

“Like when you’re at a fair and the red band only gets you on the rides on Thursday, you’ve got to get the white band for rides on a Friday,” Gebarowski said. 

 “Exactly,” Singh responded. “We can do hard things, we can solve for some of these items.”

Mayor George Brookover was absent from council’s meeting yesterday, but said at the DDA meeting that he has concerns about enforcing laws in a social district, and questioned if the benefits to businesses are worth the risk. Brookover said he has seen people go into liquor stores downtown to purchase alcohol for unhoused people. 

Councilmember Erik Altmann said he is conflicted about the proposal because surveys indicate residents would like a social district. At the same time, he worries about adding responsibilities for an understaffed East Lansing Police Department. 

Altmann asked for data about what time ELPD is receiving calls to the downtown area. He said it seems like there is a shift later at night where more illegal activity is happening downtown, and maybe it would be best to end the social district before 10 p.m. to prevent adding to that. 

Singh suggested the city should reach out to Lansing officials to learn more about their experiences with social districts.