Black Mountain to hold public hearing on proposed social district in May

In 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill allowing social districts in the state. As of March, there are at least 55 across the state, and Black Mountain could feature one more.

The town of Black Mountain will hold a public hearing on the proposed social district at the May 13 Town Council meeting at 6 p.m. at Town Hall.

Should the social district be approved by Town Council, North Carolina general statute 18B-300.1 permits businesses holding ABC permits to sell alcoholic beverages in to-go cups for consumption within the social district. The town is responsible for providing signage designating the area, as well as a logo for participating businesses to print and add to cups.

Town Council voted to call for a public hearing at the April 8 meeting as part of the consent agenda. Town Clerk Wesley Barker told Black Mountain News April 16 that the proposal came at the request of Zach Hinkle and Judi Melton.

Hinkle, director of operations at White Horse Black Mountain, told Black Mountain News April 17 that the idea came to his attention as he is helping to plan the Black Mountain Blues Festival, which will take place the weekend of July 12 as a partnership between White Horse and LEAF Global Arts.

“As we were looking at the festival and how to create a really welcoming environment for festival goers, but also to make sure that our festival customers were really exploring the town and spreading their purchasing power around to all the businesses downtown,” Hinkle said.

Melton, who runs the My Carolina Mountain Life and Visit Black Mountain websites, said there has been unofficial conversations within a group of business owners for the past year about creating a social district in Black Mountain.

Hinkle and Melton teamed up to bring the proposal to the town officially.

“When other businesses in Black Mountain who heard about this were very excited about it, it made sense to me to kind of perhaps broaden the scope of the idea from the festival weekend to perhaps something that might happen more regularly,” Hinkle said. “If we can boost the economy of the town without there being negative consequences, then that is a no-brainer.”

Ken Floyd, the Monte Vista Hotel’s general manager, said he and the hotel support the social district.

“We think it’s great for hospitality as a whole and tourism in Black Mountain, we think it’s going to create a lot of buzz,” Floyd said. “It just makes total sense to have this and it boost the economy.”

Melton said she focuses on tourism with her work and believes that having a social district would bring more visitors to the town.

“I think it fits nicely with everything I’ve just personally focused on, tourism and Black Mountain as a destination and promoting our local businesses,” Melton said. “We’re not really a hub off Asheville, we need to be seen as the place to be and Asheville as a hub off Black Mountain.”

Melton said it is important to note that having a social district does not mean that every business has to participate. Each individual business owner can choose whether or not to participate and will be given a sign to put on their door designating their choice.

Melton also said that creating a social district would increase experiences in town, something she said people look for when considering for vacation destinations.

Hinkle said creating a social district is not about changing the town, but instead about creating new ways to experience it and create new revenue streams. He said a social district would not be “re-creating the wheel” as it would simply be using legislation that has already been passed to benefit Black Mountain.

“The thing that I love about Black Mountain is that it accepts economic development with a very balanced thought process so that the Norman Rockwell-esque feel that the village maintains even when development is embraced,” Hinkle said. “It’s what we all love about this place. We all love that it has that unbelievably nostalgic feeling when you walk through the streets. We would never want that to change.”

Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.