Visitors to Alma may soon be able to stroll downtown streets while openly sipping their favorite alcoholic beverages.

City commissioners approved setting a public hearing on the matter during their next meeting, which takes place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 9 at the municipal building.

Depending on the comments received commissioners could then vote on a resolution to amend the city ordinance regarding the public consumption of alcohol and create a “social district” that would permit drinking of beer, wine and liquor outside on sidewalks and in “common areas” of the central business district.

It’s an idea that city commissioners have “been going back and forth on” since the state started allowing the establishment of such districts in 2020, City Manager Aeric Ripley noted.

“It’s another tool to get more people downtown and have them stay longer and enjoy themselves,” he explained.

The district would include Superior Street between Wright Avenue and Pine Avenue, as well as the 300 and 400 blocks of North State Street and Woodworth Avenue.

The city would establish common areas that could include the new pocket park between the Alma Community Art Center and the Strand Theatre, alleyways and place picnic tables in other parts of the district.

The district would be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs’ Liquor Control Commission, the state has 123 cities and villages that have set up social districts.

In Metro Detroit, there are 27, and Oakland County has the most in the state with 14.

In Oakland County, social districts have been licensed in Berkley, Clarkston, Clawson, Farmington, Ferndale, Holly, Lake Orion, Novi, Oak Park, Oxford, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Sough Lyon, and Wixom.

Macomb County has five, in Center Line, Mount Clemens, New Baltimore, Richmond and St. Clair Shores.

In Wayne County, eight exist, in Belleville, Dearborn, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe Woods, Northville, Trenton, and Wyandotte.

In Alma, which is in Gratiot County, between Mt. Pleasant and Lansing, there are five downtown businesses that hold liquor licenses – the Alma Brewing Company, Block House, Braveheart’s Pub, Pine Knot Bar and Pizza One.

Some already provide their own patios and outdoor seating.

Each would have to apply to the state liquor commission for a special permit to become part of the district.

Alcoholic beverages would have to be placed in plastic cups with a top and include a sticker from the establishment it was purchased from before taking it outside, Ripley said.

Drinks could not be taken from inside one bar to another, however, they could be taken into other retail businesses in the district if the owner permits it, he added.

Visitors would not be allowed to bring in their own alcohol

Ripley has visited other cities, including Midland, Kalamazoo, Hastings, Rockford and Marquette, that have similar social districts.

“None of them have had huge issues from an enforcement standpoint,” Ripley said.

The city’s Downtown Development Authority has already given its approval for the change.

Ripley noted that even if city commissioners approve the amended ordinance it would likely take several weeks to complete all of the necessary paperwork before it went into effect.