This proposal will allow downtown business owners to operate year round in the same capacity as is already allowed with special events such as Ida Cox Music Series (hosted every Saturday of the summer for the last ten years running), Toast of Toccoa and the most recent addition of Sip-n-Stroll. All of the above along with the proposed Entertainment District are designed to draw local residents and visitors to our historic downtown to support our local business community.

The Toccoa-Stephens County Tomorrow Task Force will soon be presenting the concept of adding an Entertainment District to our Historic Downtown, for consideration by the City Commission. We need your help to show community support for the proposed entertainment district for Toccoa-Stephens County. We welcome your signature in this petition.

Entertainment Districts are utilized by cities throughout the State of Georgia, the Entertainment District is an overlay commonly found in the historic downtown district or central business district of a community in which visitors have certain privileges within the boundaries of that overlay. Most commonly, it allows restaurants to sell alcoholic beverages in a clear, plastic 16-oz cup that visitors may enjoy on public sidewalks and inside the storefronts of other businesses within the boundaries of the Entertainment District.

There are various regulations, commonly found in a city’s alcohol ordinance, that govern the safety of an Entertainment District. It has been utilized as a downtown development tool to encourage business recruitment, and retention, and has been implemented by many cities in the state, not limited to Albany, Conyers, Gainesville, Perry, Cornelia, Valdosta, and other.