Denverites will soon be able to drink alcohol in public outside some bars and restaurants — but interested businesses must go through some hoops first.
The City Council passed a bill in November to let businesses with liquor licenses create designated areas where consumers can walk around with their drinks. The so-called liquor common consumption ordinance created a five-year pilot program, but the areas probably won’t start popping up around Denver until spring.
City staff and stakeholders are still working out the specifics, including the size of the areas, what participating businesses have to do to ensure safety, how much insurance they need to carry and what they need to establish as part of their sanitation plans, said Eric Escudero, a spokesperson for Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses.
Advocates are quick to point out that this new law isn’t open carry and Denver isn’t planning to become the next Bourbon Street or Las Vegas Strip. The common consumption areas are a result of a state law passed in 2011 allowing communities to set up entertainment districts. Denver explored the idea in 2013 but began actively pursuing it after renewed interest in 2017.
“We do believe that common consumption creates consumer-friendly environments that help with community building and that are a tremendous benefit to all the businesses in the immediate area,” said Brent Berkowitz, the chief operating officer of Sage Restaurant Group, at a council business committee meeting in October.
Here’s the what, how and when, as provided by Escudero:
What is a common consumption area?
A common consumption area is a designated space where existing businesses with liquor licenses near each other have banded together to allow people 21 and older to take their alcohol into the common area and drink.
The areas will only be in parts of the city that are already “densely populated” with liquor licenses and are part of entertainment districts. One entertainment district, which is restricted to 100 acres and a minimum of 20,000 square feet of liquor licenses, can have multiple common consumption areas, though each common consumption area will have to go through a separate approval process for licensing. Consumers won’t be allowed to carry around their alcohol outside of those designated areas.
The areas have to close by 2 a.m., and the businesses in charge must provide extra security and sanitation in those areas. If the areas are outdoors and plan to use street space, they have to make sure to close roads to traffic. The drinks have to be in special cups that show the business’ name.
The pilot program has no limit on the number of areas allowed in the city, but interested businesses have to go through a lot of steps before approval.
How does the process for approval work?
Applicants have to form a promotional association of at least two liquor-licensed businesses, and they have to be certified by the Department of Excise and Licenses.
The association proposes an entertainment district formation, which requires City Council approval, and boundaries for a common consumption area.
The applicants have to show evidence of community support throughout the process. If they don’t get that support, the application can’t move forward. And even after it’s submitted, neighbors will be able to weigh in through a public hearing.
Where can I take my drink? Is marijuana allowed?
Common consumption areas can be located in indoor food halls, alleyways shut off to traffic or even on streets temporarily blocked off for special events. Patrons of restaurants and bars in a common consumption area can take their drinks and walk outside or into other businesses that don’t sell alcohol if those businesses opt in. Dispensaries near the areas are not allowed to let alcohol onto their premises, and people are not allowed to use marijuana in the common consumption areas.
Some areas that have expressed interest in applying for a consumption area include Larimer Square, The Dairy Block, MacGregor Square, The Great Hall at Denver International Airport, the Denver Center for Performing Arts, and The Source.
What is the timeline?
Interested businesses won’t be able to apply for the licenses until 90 days after the rulemaking, set to begin in January, is complete. After all the regulations are set, they’re required to hold a public needs and desires hearing within 60 days of applying and make sure the hearing has been publicly posted for 30 days.
Those interested can sign up for more information at https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-business-licensing-center/liquor-licenses/liquor-common-consumption-area.html.
What does the community think?
Most of the community feedback, particularly among business leaders, has been positive, city officials have said. The department organized stakeholder and community meetings, and staff met with officials from other cities about how their processes work.
The state law isn’t straightforward, so Denver leaders wanted to make sure the right guardrails were put in place before implementation, said Ashley Kilroy, Excise and Licenses director.
But some residents still have concerns.
“This seems really rushed to me, and I think there are a lot of things that need to be considered,” Jesse Morreale, president of the Seventh Avenue Neighborhood Association, told council business committee members in October.
Morreale, a former business liquor license holder, said hundreds of residents voted at his neighborhood association and “in no uncertain terms, people are vocally and strongly opposed to it.” He said he has heard similar concerns from other neighborhoods.
City officials stressed that neighborhood concerns will be taken seriously and part of the rulemaking process will include a discussion on triggers for new public hearings as well as what restrictions neighborhood associations can place on common consumption area licenses.
Have other Colorado cities established common consumption areas?
Cities that have allowed businesses to create common consumption areas include Aurora, Black Hawk, Carbondale, Central City, Cripple Creek, Edgewater, Fort Collins, Glendale, Greeley, Leadville, Salida and Telluride, according to Denver’s Department of Excise and Licenses. Colorado Springs and Nederland are also considering the concept.
Each city has its own requirements in addition to having to follow state law.
“We’ve seen other jurisdictions experience success, and we want Denver to have the same opportunity,” Kilroy said.
Aurora, for example, established two common consumption areas in 2017: the Southlands retail center and the Stanley Marketplace.
“I think the retail centers are far enough away from residential areas that it was a benefit to the retail centers and kind of a benefit to the communities that surrounded them there,” Trevor Vaughn, Aurora’s tax and licensing manager, said earlier this year.
