Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fort Smith signs off on permanent entertainment districts
FORT SMITH — The city will be the home of two new permanent entertainment districts.
The Board of Directors on Tuesday approved establishing permanent entertainment districts — one downtown and the other in the Chaffee Crossing Historic Area.
The board added emergency clauses making the ordinances in full force after passage.
Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman wrote in a memo the ordinances were the result of the board asking city staff to revisit discussion with the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority and downtown restaurant and bar owners.
Arkansas Act 812 permits cities to establish entertainment districts. Fort Smith had established temporary districts downtown and at The HUB at Chaffee Crossing on March 17.
Directors voted to establish a permanent district at The HUB on Aug. 4. Dingman said the city received a request to make an area downtown a permanent district.
“In anticipation that more such requests would follow resulting in a patchwork of such districts downtown, the ordinance presented includes a more cohesive boundary for the downtown entertainment district,” Dingman said. “Staff attended a meeting of the Downtown Bar & Restaurant Association seeking feedback, and received overwhelming positive support for the proposed ordinance.”
Although the permanent district has a smaller footprint than the temporary district, Dingman said it encompasses most of the businesses operating as a restaurant or bar along Garrison Avenue and Rogers Avenue between Third Street and 13th Street. The district also includes Brunwick Place and Rolando’s Nuevo Latino Restaurante to the north, as well as two large hotels,
DoubleTree by Hilton and Courtyard by Marriott, the Fort Smith Convention Center, and the Bakery District to the south.
Dingman said the ordinance was amended to include TempleLive at 200 N. 11th St. in the permanent district at the request of the owner, as well as additional properties between TempleLive and the district’s original footprint to ensure it’s contiguous.
The temporary district ordinance will continue, allowing the temporary district’s larger footprint to be enacted for special events.
The permanent district will operate from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
The permanent district in the Chaffee Crossing Historic Area, Dingman said, came at the request of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority. The hours will be 10 a.m. to midnight daily.
In an Aug. 21 letter to City Administrator Carl Geffken, Daniel Mann, executive director and CEO of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, said it was an “opportunity for the property owners, tenants and visitors to the Chaffee Crossing Historic Area,” to have a unique indoor and outdoor experience and a place all can enjoy. It will benefit Fort Smith Brewing Company and JKC Cellars, a brewery and a winery in the district, as well as other projects taking place.
“The approved entertainment district will be a significant marketing tool and will allow the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority the ability to recruit similar commercial and retail business and developers to invest in many undeveloped buildings still owned by the authority,” said.
Outside of the differences in operating hours, both districts have the same rules.
Participating businesses will need to use a different colored wristband each day, which are to be issued upon verifying a person is at least 21 years old. People will need to wear one to carry their alcoholic beverage throughout the district.
All beverages will be in a paper or plastic cup no larger than 16 ounces, with the name or logo of the establishment and/or any specific event printed on it. All participating establishments will use the same cup design.
Alcoholic beverages in bottles, glass or cans are not permitted for sale or consumption outside of establishments. Possession of more than one alcoholic beverage by a person is forbidden, with possession of one also not permitted in or on a vehicle parked in any public right of way.
The districts’ physical boundaries will be clearly designated with pavement markings and/or signs.