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Vacaville council adopts entertainment-zone ordinance after debate on creekwalk vs. town square
Summary
After extensive public comment and council debate about which downtown sites should benefit, the Vacaville City Council adopted an ordinance enabling 'entertainment zones' to pilot alcohol-in-public events. Council directed staff to prioritize brick-and-mortar businesses, add metrics, and return with any necessary program changes before expanding the pilot.
Vacaville’s City Council approved an ordinance June 23 establishing a framework for downtown “entertainment zones” intended to allow participating businesses to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption within defined event boundaries during pilot events.
Council and staff framed the ordinance as a policy framework rather than a single, fixed program. Community & Economic Development Director Erin Morris told the council the ordinance is necessary to preserve a flexible local implementation of recent state provisions and said a limited 2026 pilot focusing on CreekWalk concerts would allow the city to test operational details through the end of the calendar year. Morris said the ordinance enables zones but that the specific boundaries, liquor types and conditions would be set later through the special-event permit process.
Opponents and downtown business owners urged a different approach. Blake Borchers, who described himself as the owner of The Main Grape, said the original intent of the pilot was to activate Town Square and that routing the pilot to CreekWalk would benefit one vendor rather than the five brick-and-mortar businesses around Town Square. “The spirit of this was to activate downtown,” Borchers said, arguing the Town Square pilot would better distribute business benefits and avoid undermining existing concession contracts.
Council members and staff agreed to several near-term limitations and information requirements before any further expansion: limiting vendor participation so the pilot prioritizes existing brick-and-mortar businesses, requiring event-by-event consideration of alcohol types (beer and wine encouraged at first), developing measurable performance criteria (security incidents, emergency responses, business economic impacts), and coordinating with police and parks staff on private security and staffing cost responsibilities.
Several councilmembers urged starting conservatively (beer and wine only) and requiring after-action reporting so the council could review police contacts, ambulance responses and other public-safety metrics before expanding the program or permitting hard liquor. Vice Mayor Silva requested that staff clarify whether businesses within the boundary would need to pay permit fees; staff confirmed special event permits are currently free, though security and operational costs (cups, wristbands, private security) are expected to be borne by event operators or subject to future council action for augmentation.
The motion to adopt the ordinance carried after public comment and council discussion. Council asked staff to return with program metrics, clear vendor rules that protect brick-and-mortar merchants, and a plan to limit outside vendors during the pilot so the city can gauge direct benefits to local businesses. The council recessed briefly after the vote to consult with legal counsel on the pulled contract item.
What’s next: Staff will administratively process event permit applications consistent with the ordinance and return to council with defined program metrics and any recommended edits to the operating plan before any broader rollout or a 2027 program proposal.
