Colfax establishes entertainment zone

The Colfax City Council approved an ordinance to establish an entertainment zone in the Downtown Historic District during the consent agenda of its May 27 meeting. During the public hearing for the item at the May 13 council meeting, Colfax Planning Consultant Kathy Pease shared Senate Bill 969 authorizes cities to establish entertainment zones where alcohol purchased from local bars and restaurants can be consumed on public streets, sidewalks and rights of way. "The intent of this is really to spur economic development; another tool to hopefully bring folks down to downtowns," Pease said. Pease confirmed the entertainment zone would be operational during city-sanctioned events in Colfax's Historic Downtown, such as 3rd of July and Railroad Days. The ordinance proposed the zone would operate Friday, Saturday and designated holidays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pease confirmed operations would include beverages being served in city-approved non-glass, non-metal containers such as branded plastic cups; participants must be 21 years of age or older and wear an identifiable city-approved wristband; and beverages would be limited to 12 ounces or less for beer, 5 ounces or less for wine and 12 ounces or less for mixed drinks. Following Pease's presentation, Colfax Mayor Caroline McCully shared the city received an email on the item expressing concerns about zone operation and security. "So this is, just to clarify, something that's only for events themselves," McCully explained. "It's not every weekend whatsoever. An event organizer would basically apply to say, 'We want to institute this entertainment zone,' and they would work carefully with the city and the sheriff's to make sure that it's fully covered and they know that all their rules … organizers have to provide their own security anytime they do a bar anyways. It's part of their ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) license. So they would still have to do that in addition to putting signage up where that space ends." The council received three comments, including one supporting the city establishing an entertainment zone and one in opposition, noting they didn't believe "it's a good thing for Colfax to have alcohol walking around the events where children are present." Erin Newington, executive director of the Historic Colfax Downtown Association, stated, "... I would express that it would be super awesome if we could keep it as written, like Auburn did, and allow this to happen on weekends because I do feel like it drives traffic to our businesses." Councilmember Sean Lomen suggested listing operation hours as 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., as many events, like 3rd of July, happen during the week. Lomen's suggestion sparked the council's discussion to consider enforcement hours, the stoppage of service and types of containers used for the beverages. Colfax City Attorney Conor Harkins confirmed the non-metal, non-glass requirement for the beverage containers was written into state law and the city would have to establish which containers would be authorized within the zone. Lomen made a motion to approve the ordinance with the corrected hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with service stopping at 9:30 p.m. According to the May 27 staff report, extended hours may be allowed with prior approval from the city manager. The council approved the ordinance in a unanimous vote.