The Mountain Home City Council on Thursday night officially created the five-person committee charged with overseeing the city’s downtown entertainment district.
The district, which opened in late July, allows patrons between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and midnight daily to leave a restaurant or bar with a single, commercially branded paper or plastic cup of beer, wine or a mixed drink. Patrons could then consume that beverage while walking around the entertainment district.
The district is centered on downtown and runs from Hickory Street east to South Church Street and from 5th Street south to 8th Street. The district also includes part of South Main Street.
Certain government-owned properties like the Baxter County Courthouse, Mountain Home City Hall, Hickory Park or the Veterans Plaza are also excluded from the entertainment district.
Members of the oversight committee include: Duncan Clayton, whose family owns Clayton’s Downtown Grill and Nature’s Way Health Foods; Lori Gregory, the owner of Gregory Jewelers; Angela Broome, the executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce; Jim Bodenhamer, the Ward 4, Position 1 member of the City Council; and Jeff Quick, the executive director of the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas and a member of Baxter County Forward, a collection of business and civic leaders charged with encouraging area growth.
Mayor Hillrey Adams announced the appointments last month. The ordinance approved Thursday night officially establishes the committee and specifies the requirements for each member and the functions of the committee.
Under the ordinance, the entertainment district’s oversight committee will be composed of two business owners, a representative of the tourism industry, a member of the City Council and one at-large member.
Last month, Adams told The Baxter Bulletin that he had heard of several civic groups that might possibly hold a festival in the downtown area, now that the entertainment district had opened.
“I could see someone like the Lions or Kiwanis might want to have an event down there,” he said. “Maybe a car show, cooking contest or a chili cook-off. It’s going to be up to them as far as what they want to do.”
Individuals or organizations wishing to hold an event or festival in the entertainment district must first apply to do so with the entertainment district’s oversight committee. Applications must be filed at least 60 days prior to the event and include a $25, nonrefundable application fee. Approved applicants will be required to submit a refundable $250 security deposit.
“If a group comes in and leaves a big mess behind them, I can assure you they are not getting their $250 (deposit) back,” Adams told the City Council on Thursday night. “Now if they try and make an effort to pick up their trash after the event, they will get it back.”
Alcohol vendors located inside the district, be they bars and restaurants or temporary on-site merchants operating a beer garden, would continue to be required to be licensed by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and would answer to their authority.
The oversight committee will also be in charge of the entertainment district’s signage.
The carryout cups used in the district will not exceed 16 fluid ounces in volume. No alcohol purchased outside of the entertainment district would be allowed in open containers inside the district.
It would continue to be illegal for district patrons to possess an open can, bottle or glass container of alcohol. It would also be illegal for entertainment district patrons to drink alcohol inside of a parked motor vehicle.
District merchants have agreed to not sell alcohol in carryout containers on the nights that Mountain Home’s Friday Night Block Party is being held downtown. Merchants will instead begin using the carryout cups once the Block Party concludes each Friday around 9 p.m.
The Arkansas General Assembly approved legislation earlier this year permitting the creation of such entertainment districts across the state. The City Council approved the creation of the entertainment district in late June, and the district opened July 24.
Mountain Home was the first city in Arkansas to create such a district. The City of El Dorado opened a similar district for its Murphy Arts downtown area in July, and the City of Little Rock will open its own downtown entertainment district centered on the River Market on Aug. 23.