Tanger withdraws request for social drinking district at outlet mall; Gibsonville mayor’s request to “deactivate” during festivals, Christmas parade postponed
Two local municipalities, Mebane and Gibsonville, have stalled on new proposals surrounding social drinking districts within their borders.
While Mebane’s city council had agreed last month to consider a proposed social drinking district at Tanger Outlets at 4000 Arrowhead Boulevard in Mebane, which backs up to I-85/40, that proposal has been withdrawn, pending further discussion between the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission and an attorney for the N.C. Retail Merchants Association.
The general manager of Tanger Outlets in Mebane had asked the city council at its July 1 meeting to approve the creation of a social drinking district at the outlet mall, which the property manager said she had hoped to launch in time for the upcoming Labor Day weekend.
“We have been working with Andy Ellen, President and General Counsel for the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, who recently identified that the ABC Commission is not currently recognizing Social Districts on private property,” Amanda Slayden, general manager for Tanger Mebane, wrote in a recent email to Mebane city officials, which the city furnished Wednesday in response to a public records request by The Alamance News.
“Andy and his team will continue to work with the ABC board and legislative bodies to further investigate the 2022 bill and clarify the legislative intent and implications surrounding Social Districts,” Slayden elaborated in her email to the city.
Mebane city councilman Jonathan White relayed concerns he’d heard from residents about the potential proximity of the social district at Tanger – that Slayden had described for the council at its July 1 meeting – in a July 7 email to city staff and police chief Mitch McKinney.
White said he’d gotten “a number of emails” from people whom he said were all opposed to the social district at Tanger. One unidentified grandmother, whose email he quoted for McKinney and city staff, worried about the possibility of young children being left unsupervised at the outlet mall playground while their parents avail themselves of the social drinking district.
The email that White relayed to the police chief and staff stated: “Last year I noticed that there are parents that allow their children to play there while they shop and even a few had their children there while they were working…In other words, for some people this playground has turned into an unmonitored daycare center used while parents either shop or work.
In one case, a young girl who had been playing unsupervised last year “came running” to the unidentified grandmother after getting hurt on the playground. “I was told their mom was working,” according to the email that White relayed to McKinney and other city staff. “With that said, what’s to prevent the people wanting to ‘socialize’ from conveniently dropping their children off at the playground before walking a few more steps to drink?”
The concerned grandmother’s email was subsequently forwarded by city staff to Slayden “as a general FYI…so you can address during your August presentation and public hearing,” based on the email exchanges furnished Wednesday in response to the newspaper’s public records request.
Slayden responded: “Thank you for keeping me informed. We’ve heard the same complaint in the past. We have [three closed-caption cameras] on the playground to mitigate liability such as this. It’s monitored remote in Greensboro during opening hours.
“Tanger is pursuing both paths of [a] social district and common area entertainment permit as they can concurrently exist,” Slayden added in her July 8 email response. “[A] social district will allow the city some input on how it is implemented.”
Mebane’s city council recently approved a one-year trial run for a downtown social drinking district that operates between 11:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. between Clay and Seventh streets. Also included in the downtown social district is a shared retail space with about a half-dozen merchants, the Little Shops of Mebane, along North Third Street.
Gibsonville
Gibsonville’s board of aldermen had also been scheduled Monday night to reconsider last month’s 4-1 vote to expand the town’s social drinking district from event-specific occasions to every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
An amended ordinance that the board voted 4-1 to adopt last month establishes a permanent social drinking district with hours of 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 12:00 noon to 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Gibsonville mayor Lenny Williams had requested the item to be put on the board’s meeting agenda for this Monday night to consider “deactivation” of the social drinking district hours during three of the town’s popular, family-oriented events, such as the annual fall festival and Christmas holiday events.
Williams, however, was absent from the board of aldermen’s meeting Monday night due to illness. The board agreed to postpone the renewed discussion until its next meeting on August 19 as a result of the mayor’s absence.
Alamance News publisher Tom Boney, Jr. raised the question during the discussion at the July 15 meeting whether the drinking district should apply during popular, family-oriented events such as the town’s Lighting of the Green (a Friday night in late November) and its annual Christmas parade (typically a Saturday afternoon in mid-December).
Williams is suggesting the board consider “deactivation” of the social drinking district hours during three of the town’s popular, family-oriented events – the two Boney had mentioned, as well as the Fall Festival.
This year’s Fall Festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 12.
