An ordinance to establish an entertainment district downtown had its first reading at the January City Council meeting.
This ordinance would allow vendors with a license to serve alcohol to give special plastic cups and wristbands to patrons that would allow patrons to bring the alcohol in the cup anywhere else in the entertainment district that is accepting of alcohol.
Businesses would receive window signs to post that indicate if they are participating in the entertainment district.
The entertainment district would only be active Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 10 pm.
Special exceptions to the times can be made by getting a proposal for the exception approved by Mayor Parnell Vann and Chief of Police Todd Dew, though Vann said that he will not be making exceptions for Sundays.
Despite the allowance for alcohol, there will still be fines and possible jail time for public intoxication.
The city council decided to have a $150 fine for the first offense of public intoxication and $500 to $1,000 for the fourth time.
One citizen in attendance who did not give her name said, "I find that the discussion is about what to do in the event of the issues with people with behaving just seems crazy to me. I've been in Magnolia now for nine years and what I love about this town is the quaint honesty of it. I love is that I can drive through the town at night and know that I'm safe and it's quiet. You know, I'm only 62 years old. I'm not some old fogey, but I think it's just asking for trouble. You know, I mean last night we went to the Mulekick and had a beer, and the gal comes and says, you know, do you want another one? I said You know what we'll just go home. We'll have another one there. I want to be responsible and to me this is just asking for irresponsibility upon people that haven't yet learned how to be responsible. I don't know. I don't understand the need to take a drink out and go walk around downtown. Magnolia is not that kind of town, not to me and I've lived in a lot of different places. I love the safety and security of this town. Especially with everything going on in the world right now, I thank God that I'm here you know, and not where I was before.
"So I think it's just it's a sad notion that we're all having to discuss how much it's going to cost."
If anyone does not want the City Council to move forward with the entertainment district and would like to air a grievance before the City Council, they can call City Hall and ask to be placed on the docket for the next City Council meeting.
You can share your feelings on the proposed entertainment district with us at https://magnoliabannernews.secondstreetapp.com/Banner-News-Entertainment-District-Survey/
The lady in the back middle with her hands up speaks of why she does not want an entertainment district. (Joshua Turner / Banner News)