BOARD APPROVES establishing ‘entertainment district’ in River Market area.

People enjoying alcoholic beverages in Little Rock’s River Market District will soon be able to take their drinks on the streets in a designated area, thanks to legislation the city board passed Tuesday.

The city will permit drinking beer, wine and mixed drinks from open containers in a roughly four-block zone within the River Market area from 5 p.m. to midnight Fridays, from 8 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays, as well as during designated hours on certain holidays.

Little Rock is the third city in Arkansas to vote to establish an “entertainment district” after the passage of a state law that allows municipalities to authorize such districts in commercially zoned areas.

In split votes, city directors approved an ordinance that makes it possible for entertainment districts, including temporary ones to be established in the city, and one setting the boundaries and hours for the River Market Entertainment District.

Gabe Holmstrom, executive director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, said the ordinances were the result of “a lot of hard work and research.”

“This wasn’t something that was done without a lot of thought and foresight,” he said.

Holmstrom said downtown areas across the country are experiencing an urban renewal. He noted that Huntsville, Ala., experienced a boom in tourism without a noticeable uptick in crime after establishing a similar district.

Teresa Belew, the former director of the Arkansas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the current chairman of the Arkansas Impaired Driving Prevention Task Force, addressed the board with concerns about entertainment districts that included inadequate street capacity, public fighting and drug use.

She called the districts “adult theme parks” and said that leaders in cities who have them are too focused on drawing tourist dollars.

City directors Joan Adcock and B.J. Wyrick also expressed concerns about bad behavior in an entertainment district, especially among young people.

Holmstrom said the downtown partnership helped develop the ordinance in conjunction with the Police Department to address safety concerns. One way tabs can be kept on public drinking is by using branded cups in the district, he said.

“Kids are crafty,” Wyrick countered. “They can take one of those colored cups and pour it into their McDonald’s cup and move on down the road.”

Adcock added that young people also could pick up branded cups that others had discarded and fill them with soda to tease police officers.

“We are going to have to put lots more police officers down there,” she said.

Ward 1 City Director Erma Hendrix, whose district contains the River Market area, voted present on both measures. When asked if she wanted to change her vote after the first, her response was “I’m a Christian, no.”

City directors did not approve an emergency clause for the ordinances, meaning they will become city code in 30 days.

Mountain Home and El Dorado were the first cities in Arkansas to pass entertainment district ordinances. Other cities, including Bentonville, Fayetteville, Hot Springs and Texarkana, are working on or considering establishing entertainment districts.

North Little Rock has not had any official discussions about creating an entertainment district, City Attorney Amy Fields said Tuesday.