A permanent entertainment district at Pine Mountain Village is one step closer to becoming a reality.
At its regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 12, the Eureka Springs City Council approved the drafting of an ordinance that would permit a constant entertainment district in the shopping center that includes Eureka Springs Harley Davidson and a performance stage.
“I feel that it is a zone that we can control,” council member Susane Gruning said of Pine Mountain Village. “People coming and going … we can almost use it as kind of a test for other areas.”
Pine Mountain Village requested the area to be a permanent district since owners frequently request temporary districts for the many events held throughout the year at the property. Commissioners have discussed the idea, but it wasn’t until the Aug. 12 meeting that a vote was held.
“So many of our competing towns here in Arkansas have a permanent entertainment district that is controlled,” said Gruning, who requested the topic be placed on the agenda. “The temporary is working well and I don’t know of anybody that’s ever been denied and not working. So, if we have a permanent where we have an area that is regulated … somebody can walk out with a beer, listen to some music if they happen to have an event. …I know we worry about alcohol, but I think the owners have as much to lose in serving alcohol no matter what.”
Council member Steve Holifield said he wasn’t opposed to the idea, but requested it come before the council each year for review.
“I’d like an annual review,” Holifield said. “Come back to the city council every year to renew it. If there are a lot of complaints from the neighbors or we have a lot of incidents of violations, we can just say we’re not going to renew it this year.”
Holifield, Gruning and council members David Avanzino and Autumn Slane voted in favor of drafting the ordinance.
Applications submitted by property owners for recent and upcoming temporary districts include the entire property, including the large parking lot. Gruning told council members that she believes that a proposed permanent district would be scaled down to only a certain part of the property.
“From what I understand, they are going to revise the map,” Gruning said. “… They are willing to downscale it. So, it’s not necessarily the whole parking lot. They’re trying to grow that area, which I think is commendable.”
Council member Harry Meyer said he was against the idea, citing opposition from residents who live in the area, along with using the entire parking lot as part of the district during recent events.
“Pine Mountain is surrounded by residential behind it,” Meyer said. “It’s all residential. I know I can hear the music from Pine Mountain at my house and I’m over on Cross Street. If they’ve got a permanent entertainment district then any weekend they can have a band playing down there. Loud noises, whatever. The folks in my neighborhood don’t want it.
“They even changed the boundaries of their temporary entertainment district. The first one we gave them was strictly confined to the back of the outside, behind the parking lot. … And when they came for the latest one … it was: ‘Well, we want to be able to walk around the cars and have a beer.’ Well, I’m opposed to it. I don’t think they’ll manage it properly. They’ve got plenty of business.”
Council member Terry McClung also voted against the proposal, saying he wanted more specifics on the idea from property owners.
“I’m not opposed necessarily,” McClung said. “I’m keeping an open mind on this, but I think before I could come on board, I’d have to see some kind of plan by the owners as to what they intend to do. … There’s no plan and it just doesn’t feel right. I’d like to see something from them and what they intend to do, what they want it to be.”
Avanzino asked if the city would be liable in any capacity if an alcohol-related incident happened in a permanent district, and city attorney Forrest Jacobi assured council members that only property owners would be at fault if something were to happen.
“This is solely their responsibility,” Slane said during discussion of liability. “If they have somebody that comes out of there and has a wreck, it’s still their responsibility. They are the ABC license holder. The ABC license holder is still responsible for drunk driving, overserving, all the things you have in an establishment.
“I mean, I think it’s a great idea. If not there, then where? What a perfect situation, it’s in a parking lot. It’s all contained.”
Gruning’s motion to have the ordinance drafted passed 4-2.
“We’re elected by the citizens, not the businesses,” Meyer said just before the vote. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”
DUAL TEMPORARY DISTRICTS The approval to draft an ordinance to establish a permanent entertainment district at Pine Mountain Village came after the council approved changes to rules regarding temporary districts.
Ordinance 2283, passed in 2019, put restrictions on temporary districts, including a stipulation that only one district could be approved in the city for the same time period. The ordinance also said that public resources would be used for security of the event.
“If somebody wanted to have another event, a temporary area, it was whoever could get in first to get their application in,” Gruning said. “If there were two that gives you the opportunity for someone else in the city so there’s no unfair advantage.”
Meyer, who cast the lone vote against changing the temporary district ordinance, responded: “First come, first serve.”
The council voted 5-1 to approve ordinance 2356, which removes the language in the older ordinance that limits temporary entertainment districts to one at a time and the section regarding the use of public resources for security. Each temporary district will now be required to provide its own security that has to be approved by the police chief.
“I do agree with this ordinance,” Avanzino said. “…The temporary entertainment districts do bring business to town, to our local business owners, to the shops downtown. … I think it’s very good thing for our tourists and our business owners. It brings lodging in for various events like St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, the myriad of things that go on over at Pine Mountain. I think it’s a good thing.”
The council also suspended the rules and approved the second and third readings of the ordinance, meaning it will go into effect 30 days from the date of passage.
Each vote was 5-1 with Meyer dissenting.
OTHER COUNCIL ACTION
The council approved two large purchases for public works.
A 5-1 vote approved allocating $37,000 to purchase a new pump for the Whiteley Lift Station, which includes tax and shipping.
Later, the council approved 6-0 to spend $32,027.54 for patching work needed along parts of Highway 62.
Two temporary entertainment districts were also approved by a 5-1 vote.
An antique auto show temporary district at Pine Mountain Village was approved for 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sept. 6 and 7 and a temporary district as part of Oktoberfest was approved for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 downtown. A beer garden will be part of Oktoberfest in the parking lot between the Carroll County Western District Courthouse and The Auditorium.
The council also approved a Sept. 9 public hearing regarding a land vacation request for an unused section of Delores Avenue.
Other unanimous approvals were the addition of Heather Wilson and Robert Schmid to the city advertising and promotion commission. The pair were sworn in by Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 14, so they could participate in a CAPC special meeting and workshop later that day.
Brita Rekve also was approved as a member of the cemetery commission.
