Wake Forest adopts social district for downtown alcohol carryout; board votes 4–1

The Town of Wake Forest Board of Commissioners voted to adopt an ordinance establishing a downtown social district that will permit carryout alcoholic beverages from participating businesses in designated containers beginning June 5.

Jennifer Herbert, the town’s Downtown Development Director, presented the ordinance and described key rules: participating businesses that already hold valid ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) permits would choose to opt in and complete an electronic form with the town; beverages sold for carryout in the social district must be in clear, non-glass containers bearing a district mark or logo, include markings identifying the permittee and the purchase time and date, and be limited to 16 fluid ounces. Herbert said staff intend to allow cups that already contain a business logo if the cup itself is clear and displays the social district marking. She also said the town would not initially require a single cup size to accommodate establishments that sell wine.

The proposed district boundary covers the downtown commercial area, broadly including South White Street to Elm,…