Stillwater community split on whether social districts would enhance the city

Social district soon coming to Stillwater?

Social districts are a new concept in Minnesota that allow people to walk around town with open alcoholic containers. City leaders in Stillwater are gauging interest in bringing it to their city.

STILLWATER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Stillwater is one of the few cities in Minnesota on tap for a social district. 

Now, city leaders are gauging the community’s appetite for an area where people can openly sip alcohol while strolling.

Stillwater social district?

The backstory:

This comes after the Minnesota Legislature approved the city to do so last year.

Anoka was the first city to operate a social district in the state.

Shakopee is the other city approved for a social district. According to the city’s website, it is planning to open for the first time later this year.

What they're saying:

Stillwater city staff presented the results of the community engagement survey to the mayor and city council on Wednesday. More than 400 people responded — roughly 50% were against the idea, and about 44% were for it, while some did not feel strongly either way. 

However, if you broke it down to people who live downtown, most responded that they were against the idea of a social district.

City staff said the top perceived concerns were around public behavior and trash. Some of the top perceived benefits were increased flexibility and foot traffic.

In their discussion, Stillwater city leaders did reference Anoka as being the first in the state to approve a social district and pointed to the city's success, but said the needs of each city are too different to compare.

With the lack of a strong consensus, Stillwater mayor and the city council decided further discussion and deeper public engagement will be needed. City leaders would then explore the possibility of testing the experience with a pilot in the city.

"I think the reality is probably somewhere between all of those. It’s probably not as bad as people’s worst fears and probably not going to bring the huge boom that people might hope for," said Jason Zimmerman, Interim Community Development Director.