Loomis to hold open house for entertainment zone input

The Town of Loomis is seeking public input on a proposed entertainment zone downtown. Loomis officials are hoping to green-light an entertainment zone on Taylor Road in the coming months. With an open house Jan. 28, officials are seeking community feedback, the Town announced online last week. An entertainment zone is a designated area where patrons of a beer or wine manufacturer – or on-sale licensee – may leave the pub to go outside with an open container of alcohol within zone boundaries. People can thus legally drink outdoors if the necessary conditions, requirements and guidelines are followed, staff said. "An EZ would promote economic activity for all retailers along Taylor Road and would enhance and expedite events as well. Businesses in downtown Loomis requested the creation of the EZ to do just that," Loomis Town announced online. Peer cities like Auburn have adopted similar zones. Auburn staff said their zone has been successful so far, with no safety incidents since activated early in December. Auburn created the zone to stimulate downtown retail by retaining visitors longer, officials said. "Promoting business activity in downtown Loomis is critical to the Town's success as Loomis competes for customer dollars with nearby cities that offer increasingly more 'draws' for their own downtowns," the Town announced. Loomis staff said the EZ would operate Thursday through Sunday. Thursday and Friday hours would be 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. As proposed, the Loomis zone would operate on specific holidays: Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Black Friday, Christmas and New Year's Eve. To ensure zone boundaries are clear, there will be signs, sidewalk stickers and maps. The Town Council formed an ad-hoc committee last fall with two council members and one staff member to develop a zone management plan/ordinance. The Town has held multiple meetings with stakeholders and public safety, including discussions with the Placer County Sheriff's Office. The Town will hold an entertainment zone open house Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Train Depot, 5775 Horseshoe Bar Road. A Sheriff's representative will attend, staff said. Adopting an EZ includes two Town Council public hearings. The first hearing is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 10. The second reading would be in March. The Sheriff is briefed on the EZ and on call for any incidents. Other measures include plastic cups, wristband IDs and public awareness about expected behavior and legal consequences. If there are multiple complaints or issues, the council can suspend the operation any time. Several cities in the region have entertainment zones: · Sacramento has multiple zones in Midtown and near the Convention Center. Sac is also expanding them. · Auburn's entertainment zones are in Old Town and downtown. Auburn chose to incorporate additional safeguards in their its ordinance to increase public safety. · Redding allows alcohol consumption with a large part of a downtown EZ.