With no public objections, social district question on the ballot Nov. 4

LACONIA — Councilors received minimal public input Tuesday night during the second required hearing on a ballot question about social districts. The measure is on the ballot for the Municipal Election.

The Municipal Election is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and there are four questions on the ballot, one of which grants authority to the council to designate social zones where open alcohol consumption is tolerated. 

No action was taken by the council on Tuesday night, as the purpose of the hearing was strictly to gather public input or field questions about social districts. 

The first public hearing on the matter was held Sept. 22, after which councilors approved adding the question to the ballot for the upcoming election. Now, it’s up to the voters to decide if they want to create such zones in the city. 

“If I’m a bar owner, and my bar sits within a social district that you identify, people can order something in my restaurant or bar, walk outside, drink it outdoors in that district,” City Manager Kirk Beattie said Tuesday. “If it’s passed on the ballot, it comes to [the city council], you’ll work and what my hope is that it would work as the council, with our public safety officials within the city, to identify good, solid areas that you feel comfortable with. That would go to the [New Hampshire] Liquor Commission for an approval, and then a vote on your end.”

Before any of that can happen, the public has to affirm the question through a vote. 

Jon Hildreth of Ward 1 asked councilors if a social zone would supersede the need for establishing a one-day license for open drinking, making it permanent. 

“That’s my recommendation to the council, is that it’s all done through public safety, police, fire, public works, so that way it would supersede those,” Beattie said. 

Ward 5 Councilor Steven Bogert asked Beattie if a business would still need to obtain an event permit to use the social district, and Beattie said that’s not his understanding of the new state law which provides for such areas, but will double-check the requirements. 

“So it could just be outside drinking any old time?” Bogert asked. 

“Yes, that’s how I read it,” Beattie said. 

Ward 6 Councilor Tony Felch asked if the social districts could be limited to certain days, like the weekend, for example.

“That I think you could do,” Beattie said. “It really falls back onto you, but it allows it to be a little more open.”

House Bill 467 came into effect on Sept. 5. The legislation paves the way for communities to approve and implement so-called social districts if their voters approve of the concept. A social district is defined by the state law as an “outdoor area in which a person may consume alcoholic beverages sold by a licensee.”

The city regularly approves similar situations on a case-by-case basis, such as in areas of the Weirs along Lakeside Avenue, or on Canal Street, during certain events throughout the summer.