Raleigh report recommends governance, safety and mobility steps to support nightlife economy

City staff presented a final Sociable City Assessment to the Raleigh City Council and outlined recommended actions to support the city’s hospitality and nighttime economy. Whitney Schoenfeld of the Office of Special Events introduced the report and Rachel Bain of the office’s hospitality and nightlife team joined consultant Jocelyn Kane of the Responsible Hospitality Institute to summarize findings and suggested next steps.

The report, paid for with ARPA funds reallocated in January 2024, focuses on the Fayetteville Street and Glenwood South districts but includes recommendations that officials said could be implemented citywide. Jocelyn Kane, the consultant, said the team “didn't come here to tell you how to fix Raleigh from, our perspective. We came here to listen to the city of Raleigh.” The presentation named gaps in trust between venue operators and city government and proposed actions to narrow that gap.

Major recommended governance steps include rebranding the hospitality and nightlife team to improve outreach to venue operators; improving notifications and data sharing with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control process; increasing internal city data exchange among inspections, fire and building staff; and creating an “agent of change” approach to mixed-use development so developers and operators anticipate potential conflicts between new residents and nightlife venues. The report also encourages creation or reactivation of a downtown living advocates group and support for a local nightlife association to give venues a unified voice.

On safety, the assessment recommended reviving a multiagency field inspection team (described in the presentation as “NetForce”), increasing nonenforcement venue visits around holidays, developing baseline venue security standards, and expanding trainings for hospitality staff including women’s-safety and bystander/patron-support training. The consultant noted state partners, including the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, had indicated interest in state-level minimum standards for unarmed security personnel.

Mobility and public-space recommendations included standardizing private parking-lot practices near nightlife clusters, enhancing public communications about arrival and departure options, and exploring the R Line as a way to encourage movement through downtown. The presentation also urged attention to right-of-way preservation during construction and a longer-term streetscape plan to address narrow sidewalks in Glenwood South.

Presenters described several operational items already in motion: a change to how Glenwood safety closures display their lights, a new occupancy-data field for fire inspections, initial multiagency field inspections that included the alcohol-license coordinator and building inspectors, and conversations about code revisions for dumpster placement and sidewalk maintenance. The Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) agreed to refer certain new-business meetings to the Office of Special Events so staff will know when new alcohol-serving venues are opening.

Council members asked about legal limits on what the city can require of private businesses. A staff response noted some actions can be encouraged through education and incentives but the city’s authority to mandate internal venue requirements is limited. Councilors also pressed for clearer, objective noise standards and discussed possible pre-event sound checks or a prescreening service to give venues predictability about compliance.

City staff said they will review the assessment to identify “low-hanging fruit” for quick implementation and bring recommendations back to council or to the Safe and Vibrant committee. An overview for project participants and the public was scheduled for the Dick’s Park chapel at 6 p.m. the next day, and the full report and a project web page are available on the city website.