The Fresno City Council on Thursday gave initial approval to a plan allowing street drinking along a portion of Fulton Street in downtown Fresno.

The plan, approved 7-0, comes amid divided opinions about how it will affect safety. The plan will get a second hearing in two weeks.

Entertainment zones, created by California law, allow attendees to take alcoholic drinks outside a place of business during approved special events.

In the case of downtown Fresno, the approved plan creates a one-year pilot entertainment zone for some events surrounding the Brewery District.

Michael Cruz, president of Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co., said that Entertainment Zones, even if they start small, will help distinguish downtown Fresno from other parts of the city and the Central Valley.

“Long term, it creates a unique experience in the downtown area,” Cruz said. “It just gives us a point of difference to either other parts of Fresno or other cities throughout the Valley. Fresno is the fifth-biggest city in California and we should be able to figure out a space in our city where this works occasionally, safely, and where the community can support it.”

Entertainment Zone for ArtHop Off the Books for Now

The way it works is, someone buying an alcoholic drink would get a special cup from the bar or brewery indicating where that drink came from. Drinkers would not be allowed to take alcohol from business to business.

The street would also be cordoned off to keep people with drinks within the approved zone.

What events would allow street drinking is still up in the air.

Elliott Balch, president of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, said that discussions will occur about which future events will allow street drinking. A consensus has emerged following pushback about applying it to ArtHop.

Any talk about applying it to ArtHop would likely not occur until after the pilot has proven itself. He said the first events would likely be brand new events.

Having the pilot period means experimenting with what it looks like, Balch said. Trying it with an event that already exists jeopardizes both the established event and the pilot.

“When you have folks that are professionals and their licenses at stake, and when you have the labeled cups that track the accountability back, those are … a good, commonsense way to operate an event,” Balch said.

Could Entertainment Zones Reduce Safety?

Opposition to the entertainment zones grew among those in the downtown community and beyond.

Retired teacher Lori Garcia said she lost her brother at a young age and opposed the zones because it could increase drunk driving.

Some spoke about how it will increase crime, especially following a massive public brawl and stabbing at the April ArtHop event.

Artist Joseph Rodriguez said businesses were being compelled to participate, putting expensive liquor licenses on the line.

Balch countered that Brewery District businesses helped come up with the plan. In addition, participation in entertainment zone events would be voluntary.

Control of the event and safety for minors would not be different than at events such as baseball games or sports events where drinks are served with families around, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said.

While businesses, police, and private security will help ensure safety, he also called on families to be responsible for their children. The ArtHop brawl largely involved minors.

“The city is not a babysitter,” Arias said. “Families are responsible for the teenagers they send to public events. We’re going to do our best to have the structures and amount of police officer and security guards… for everyone to have fun.”

Business Owners Backing Entertainment Zones

Entertainment Zone events would start small, Cruz said.

“It would be something … that we would baby step into,” Cruz said.

Where massive events such as FresYes can cost more than $100,000, having the contracted police, insurance, and operational needs for the first events would likely cost between $5,000 and $10,000 an event for participating businesses.

Any businesses that don’t want to participate can opt out, Cruz said.

He said the business owners he’s spoken with in the area, whether they sell alcohol or not, support the idea.

“If there’s going to be money asked or support asked, it’s got to make sense for them,” Cruz said. “But getting it passed and having it operate safely, I think everyone that I’ve talked to is in support of it.”