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This weekend, during Saline Summerfest, the downtown social district is closed. The downtown social district allows customers to leave establishments and walk with their drinks on the south side of downtown. The practice was popular during the Salty Summer Music concert last Thursday.
City Council decided, with a 7-0 vote, on Monday to pause the social district during this weekend's Saline Summer Music.
Acting City Manager Elle Cole explained the reasoning.
"This weekend we are going to have thousands of people walking through downtown. Management and public safety are straightforward for us," if the city closes the zone, Cole said. "It's best practice to close your district when you have large events with beer tents."
Cole said Summerfest has its own license. Allowing the social district would make it hard to determine who's responsible or liable when someone is over served and who's responsible. It would also make it harder to manage the overlapping liquor licenses.
When City Council created the social district, it decided to pause the district during events like Summerfest and Oktoberfest, Councillor Janet Dillon said.
"It was just a flood gate of managing the people who are leaving one area and going to another," Dillon said.
Councillor Nicole Rice said the volunteers who put on Summerfest use beer sales to fund the following year's event. Oktoberfest's sales are also a fundraiser for Saline Main Street. So allowing social district sales could negatively impact the events.
"As someone who used to be on the board (of Summerfest), it breaks even pretty much every year. It's just meant to pay for next year's activities. Oktoberfest, on the other hand, is a fundraising effort for Saline Main Street," Rice said. "So any beer, wine or spirits brought into the festival would take away from their ability to raise funds."
Mayor Brian Marl said he was voting to pause the district this year but he wants to review the situation for 2026. He said the festivals serve beer, wine and hard cider. He said he believes the majority of establishments in social district serve spirits, cocktails and mixed drinks.
"So I think if an individual wanted to partake in a mixed drink or cocktail during this event, they should have the ability to do so," Marl said.
Marl also commended the participating businesses for the way they've administered sales of alcohol. Mac's, Brecon Grille, Salt Springs Brewery and DropTop Pizza are in the district.
"To me, it seems like it would be advantageous to continue the social district and allow our businesses to benefit from a little bit of additional revenue and provide our guests and citizens alike who are participating in these events," Marl said.
Summerfest is Friday and Saturday.
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