New entertainment district proposed for Jonesboro

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – An ordinance will soon be introduced that could turn Downtown Jonesboro into an entertainment district.

According to An Arkansas law passed in 2021, an entertainment district is an area that “contains any number and any combination of restaurants, taprooms, taverns, entertainment establishments, hospitality establishments, music venues, theaters, bars, private clubs, art galleries, art studios, tourist destinations, distilleries, dance clubs, cinemas, or concert halls.”

The proposed district would go through Church Street, Cate Avenue, Huntington Avenue, and Washington Avenue.

According to the ordinance, the Jonesboro Advertisement and Promotions Commission currently collects a gross receipts tax on hotel and motel accommodations, which would allow the City Council to establish an entertainment district within Jonesboro city limits.

The City Council said they believe the entertainment district will “benefit the downtown area by promoting an atmosphere aimed at facilitating business and promoting tourism.”

For Downtown Jonesboro to become an entertainment district, a special event permit would need to be approved by the City of Jonesboro and the Entertainment District Oversight Committee.

If passed, the consumption of alcoholic beverages would be permitted outdoors, within the district, under the following conditions:

• A licensee who receives an entertainment district designation shall allow alcoholic beverages to be removed from the licensed premises only in a district container that bears the entertainment district logo, no less than 2.0″ wide by 1.5″ tall in size, as designated by the City (logo attached hereto and incorporated herein as “Exhibit 3″). No such alcoholic beverage shall be removed from the licensed premises in a can, bottle, or glass container. Any patron leaving a licensee’s premises with a district container must also have a district wristband designating that the licensee has checked photo identification to determine that the patron is legally able to consume an alcoholic beverage.
• No licensee shall allow a patron, guest, or member to exit its licensed premises with more than one open container of alcoholic beverages, and it shall be unlawful for any person to exit such licensed premises with more than one such district container.
• It shall be unlawful for any person to drink or attempt to drink any alcoholic beverage from a can, bottle, or glass container, or to possess any open can, bottle, or glass container of alcoholic beverages on the streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way, and parking lots located within an entertainment district.
• No district container in which an alcoholic beverage is dispensed and removed from the licensed premises shall exceed 16 fluid ounces in size.
• No person shall possess on the streets, sidewalks, rights-of-way, parking lots, or outdoor public areas located within the entertainment district any open alcoholic beverage container that exceeds 16 fluid ounces in size.
• All licensees within the entertainment district shall display at all public exits the rules of the entertainment district and a map of the entertainment district boundaries.
• Licensees and organizations with special events may apply to the Jonesboro Police Department, with approval from the Entertainment District Oversight Committee, for a Special Event Entertainment District Permit to temporarily expand the entertainment district days and/or hours of operation for special events.
• Nothing herein is intended to confer any rights or entitlement; selling alcohol within the designated entertainment district is a privilege, not a right, and is subject at all times to reasonable regulation by local, state, and federal authorities.

Additionally, it would be against the law for any person to consume alcoholic beverages while in a vehicle if the vehicle is on a street, parking lot, or any other place within the entertainment district.

Jonesboro is just another of several other towns in Region 8 such as Batesville and Blytheville to consider an entertainment district.

The ordinance for the entertainment district will be introduced in the Public Safety Council Committee on Tuesday, June 18.

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