The Weldon Town Board, along with a steering committee that includes Weldon Mills Distillery, has been exploring the concept of a social district and will hold a public hearing on the matter May 1.

A social district, Weldon Town Manager Montre D. Freeman explained Monday, is one where people who buy alcoholic beverages can then walk out with them and explore areas which are clearly designated as part of the district. “That area has to be clearly defined with boundaries and the stores or restaurants that participate will have to be clearly identified,” Freeman said.

(The public hearing will be held May 1 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Halifax Community College in room 401 of the 400 building. It is expected a vote on the matter will come at the town board’s May 25 meeting.)

Each business owner within the district has the ability to say whether they will participate, he said. 

J.W. Shearin, a member of the Weldon Planning Board, said the idea of social districts across the state came about after lawmakers approved the concept and the governor signed the bill into law in 2022. “Since 2022, now as we speak, there are 73 social districts in North Carolina.”

There are social districts from Edenton to Selma and Kannapolis to Salisbury. For Weldon, the idea came out of the Christmas in Weldon event last year where the town closed the 100 block of Washington Avenue and Weldon Mills gave tastings to visitors. “That was the beginning of it,” Freeman said. “From there, there were multiple conversations.”

Those conversations included Weldon Mills Distillery General Manager Brianna Neville, distillery owner Bruce Tyler, the police department, and the exploratory committee, he said. “I came from different areas where social districting was already happening so it became a request to the board to be allowed to go forward with seeing what the process is. From there, we started a process and here we are.”

Weldon town Commissioner Jennifer Cox said the committee has been going to other communities with social districts and setting up models based on their input. “It has been a very successful transition in communities and, in essence, has really brought communities together in a different way. We see this as a very positive move forward for Weldon.”

Shearin said these districts have a tendency to increase foot traffic in downtown commercial areas and also help to bring economic vitality for businesses that want to locate in a particular community. “When you go in and buy a drink and you’re stuck sitting there having that drink, wouldn’t it be nice to go into another business and shop? It keeps you downtown without feeling trapped in one location.”

And then there is an economic revival happening in Weldon, Freeman said. “Weldon is the hottest town in the county and one of the hottest towns in this state. We have in our backyard the number one distillery in the world. It could have been called Bruce Tyler Mills or Montre Freeman Mills, but it’s called Weldon Mills.”

Included in the gallery is a cup from the Cary social district, which also includes a time stamp on the back

Since there is the Weldon Mills footprint, the discussions centered on ways to highlight it and expand it, he said. “Being able to have a social district with this plethora of tastings, this plethora of flavors and all of this amazing alcohol, you’ve got to capitalize on it from an economic vitality standpoint, from a main street standpoint, and from what is there to do in Weldon.”

If the social district is ultimately approved, it would be the first in the county and the first in this part of northeastern North Carolina, Freeman said. 

When Tyler and Michael Hinderliter started the distillery, they had a vision, Neville said. “It’s taken some time to obviously build on that. Bruce always wanted this to be a social district.”

As it currently stands, people who buy drinks at the distillery’s mill cannot go past the front porch of the mill building and can’t take a drink with them on the short trolley ride for a distillery tour — a tour that goes through Riverfalls Park and offers clear views of the Roanoke River.

The entire area in front of the mill building is owned by the town, which doesn’t allow alcoholic beverages on its property. The social district, Shearin said, will eliminate that. 

Neville, who said the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission supports the endeavor, sees the social district as a catalyst to drive more business to the distillery. “We get so much traffic off of 95.”

“We’re the busiest exit in North Carolina,” Cox said. “The distillery is drawing that traffic in. If people grab a cocktail, we can send them over to the Red Wagon or over to the Weldon Cafe.”

“They’re going to come back and they’re going to stay and spend more,” Neville said.

Cox said the steering committee has worked with other businesses and that includes a tap room, which is eyeing a summer opening, and the Cafe Weldon which is planning to get an ABC license to serve mimosas and wine.

Freeman said the town won’t know the overall response until the public hearing. “I do believe that in my conversations with business owners in that district, they are all excited about it. Even those who will not be participating are excited about what it can mean for foot traffic.”

In studying the matter, he said social districts have been proven to be one of the biggest economic drivers to help increase local sales taxes. 

Businesses that participate will have stickers on their doors that indicate customers are welcome to come in with their drinks, and those that don’t participate will also have stickers on their doors.

The distillery’s Durham location is in a social district where the Durham Athletic Park is located and Weldon Mills Bourbon has become the official bourbon of the Durham Bulls, Neville said. “It’s really nice to go before a game, have a drink, and then you can walk over to the stadium with it. We’ve seen great success. We haven’t had any issues with abuse of the privilege."

Freeman said Weldon’s proposed social district would include the area beyond the porch of the mill building and into the park. It would then include the walking tunnel under Highway 301 and encompass 51 Sycamore to First Street and then First Street to the 100-300 blocks of Washington Avenue.

“I think it’s going to be a great idea,” Weldon police Chief Christopher Davis said. “Our plans are to have it marked well and where the limits are. There’s going to be no questions of where the social district begins and where it ends. If we do have some issues with people trying to go outside the district, we’re going to give out warnings initially.”

Shearin said there had been pushback in some of the towns when social districts were first discussed. “They thought it was going to create chaos or people stumbling along the streets, or sleeping in the park. They took the option to limit it to certain days and hours to test it and see how it worked. After a two-year run in one district, they had one small incident, but none of that fear materialized from the naysayers. Then they began to expand the days and hours and people began to see how it can increase foot traffic.”

Freeman said following the public hearing, there is a 15-day period before the board can act on the measure. “In that period it gives us time to take the questions and comments that came from the public and address those things. The other piece about the public hearing is it allows us to hear different perspectives so that we can make sure we’ve done our due diligence.”

If the measure is ultimately approved, the town would do a soft launch, possibly in June. “We want to make sure that our law enforcement is comfortable with what they see in the footprint and how it flows,” Freeman said. “We also want to have multiple conversations with our law enforcement to make sure as we grow this we’ll cover the bases. It also gives our police chief the opportunity to coordinate with the sheriff’s office for assistance to cover that footprint. It allows us to see what we need to tweak.”