Council discusses Hastings entertainment-district plan, sidewalk dining and temporary parklets

Chad, a city staff member, introduced an entertainment-district proposal for downtown Hastings that would let licensed downtown restaurants and bars sell alcohol in designated public “common areas” during approved street-closure events.

The proposal, Chad said, would use state statute authorizations and a local ordinance to define district boundaries, specify common areas for particular events and set security requirements for temporary liquor sales. “The idea here is to use this ordinance for a local license just to allow for a different approach to our community events,” Chad said.

The plan as presented would center on First Street and adjacent side streets, with an entertainment-district boundary that could extend from the railroad tracks on the south side of downtown north toward Second Street. Chad said only businesses adjacent to a licensed common area would be permitted to serve alcohol into that area during a closure; drinks would use a district-designated cup with a logo indicating the Hastings Entertainment District.

Council members pressed staff on operational details. Chief Adam, the police chief, said he would need more information about insurance and liability when events are held on roadways and asked staff to check how other cities handle insurance and incident responsibility. Chad said private security companies would be required to patrol common areas and check IDs, and that the city would not obligate the Hastings Police Department to staff every event. Chad also acknowledged state statute currently imposes temporary-liquor security standards — for example, rigid temporary fencing requirements for some beer gardens — and said the ordinance could set local security standards.

Council members asked several practical questions: how age-verification and overservice enforcement would be handled when multiple license holders participate in one common area; whether food trucks or non–brick-and-mortar businesses could participate; who would be liable if minors obtained alcohol by circumventing wristbands or cups; and whether the proposal would limit how frequently events could be held. Chad said the city would seek clearer answers on liability and enforcement from state authorities and from local counsel.

Chad also proposed two related items: a sidewalk-dining license for downtown brick-and-mortar businesses (seasonal, with ADA and fire-access requirements) and a tactical urbanism pilot on First Street between Lincoln and Hastings. The streetscape pilot would test elements such as raised parklets that use two parallel parking spaces, planters, improved crosswalks, temporary asphalt art and “lollipop” delineators to create repeated short-term pedestrian areas and parklets funded initially through the Hastings Community Foundation. Chad said the pilot elements would be temporary and removable to avoid winter maintenance conflicts.

Council feedback was generally favorable but cautious. Several council members said they liked the ideas for enhancing downtown vibrancy and easing the “cage” aesthetics of fenced beer gardens, but they asked staff to return with specific design proposals, insurance requirements (including naming the city as an additional insured), recommended private-security staffing ratios, and clear language on boundaries and licensee responsibilities. At the meeting’s informal thumbs-up check, the council expressed support for the second (sidewalk-dining) and third (streetscape) ideas, and asked staff to bring more information on the entertainment-district ordinance and liability questions before formal adoption.

Chad said staff will continue coordination with downtown business groups and the business improvement district, pursue more detail from the state on statutory requirements for temporary liquor service, and return to the council with refined ordinance language, liability and insurance recommendations, and schematic designs for the parklet and pilot intersections. “We have money in hand. We have a design. We have some folks that I think are willing to build it for us,” he said, and added staff could be ready to install pilot elements when weather permits.

The discussion closed with council direction to staff to research liability and design details and return with information; no formal ordinance or vote was taken at the work session.