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3 Mountain Brook entertainment districts approved by Alabama House
ByPat Byington
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Legislation establishing Mountain Brook Village, English Village and Crestline Village as entertainment districts passed the Alabama House of Representatives.
Introduced on March 21st by Mountain Brook State Representative David Faulkner, House Bill 479 provides the Mountain Brook City Council the authority to establish and regulate entertainment districts within the boundaries of the three villages. The bill passed committee and the House without opposition. It now moves to the Alabama State Senate, where it is expected to pass.
Entertainment Districts Taking Off
What are entertainment districts? In a nutshell, it is a designated area for businesses with alcohol licenses to allow drinks to be taken off premises within the district’s boundaries and during certain hours.
Designated entertainment districts in the Birmingham metro region have increased dramatically in the past few years.
In 2020, Hoover, Trussville, Vestavia and Helena approved new entertainment districts. Over the past two years and a half years, Birmingham has carved out entertainment district boundaries within the Five Points South, Avondale and Pepper Place neighborhood/business districts. The first Magic City entertainment district was established at Uptown and the BJCC in 2015.
Mountain Brook Support
In an interview with Bham Now, Rep. Faulkner praised and credited the city of Mountain Brook for coming up with the entertainment districts proposal and laying the groundwork for the legislation, which included the city council passing a resolution in support of the districts.
Faulkner, not only sees the proposal as an economic opportunity, but also a way to keep people safe during a pandemic.
“COVID, brought out the need for people to be outside. I think that’s what spurred the city, to move in this direction realizing how important it was for people to be outside and to be able to move around freely.”
What’s Next
The Alabama Legislature just passed the halfway mark for the 2021 session. HB 479 needs to pass the Jefferson County Local Legislation Committee and the State Senate before it can make it onto Governor Kay Ivey’s desk for final approval.
Once it is approved, the city of Mountain Brook then has the authority to start crafting the boundaries and rules to regulate the new entertainment districts. Of course, all that will need final approval by the city council.
Stay tuned.
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