The board of aldermen is considering expanding the city’s Leisure and Recreation District and adding a new sticker requirement.

If passed, Starkville’s Leisure and Recreation District would expand to include a portion of Dr. Douglas L. Conner Drive between West Main Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, North Lafayette Street, a small portion of South Lafayette Street, Jefferson Street, Lummus Drive and Colonel Muldrow Drive.

Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch expanding the district would support proposed new mixed-use developments in those areas that could include restaurants but the full scope of the projects won’t be determined until after the board votes on the expansion.

The proposed new boundary lines for Starkville’s Leisure and Recreation District are pictured. This map was provided as part of the board of aldermen’s agenda packet for its Tuesday night meeting in City Hall. Courtesy graphic

“We’ve got people that are … buying property and intending to invest and that includes for residential, for new restaurants, for office, for retail,” Spruill told The Dispatch. “So all of that is indicative of the city being a place where people want to invest and increase their footprint and their opportunity.”

Starkville established its Leisure and Recreation District in 2018, which allows for to-go cups of alcohol to be taken outside of restaurants and bars and consumed in the district. The existing boundaries include the Cotton District and large swaths of downtown.

Spruill hopes if this ordinance passes it will encourage more investment in Starkville’s downtown.

“I think (this expansion) is a great idea,” Ward 1 Alderwoman Kim Moreland told The Dispatch. “I think the more places that we can get downtown that are walking distance, and a lot of those are with expanding (the district), I think it’s good to do it. I want to get our downtown as vibrant as possible.”

In addition to the expansion, the proposed ordinance change includes a new rule requiring all containers with alcohol to have a sticker on them to identify where it was purchased and the date. The stickers, which SPD must approve, will be provided by The Greater Starkville Development Partnership to restaurants at no cost, Ward 3 Alderman James Skinner wrote in a text to The Dispatch.

The stickers will help prevent people from bringing outside alcohol into the district, Spruill told The Dispatch.

“(The sticker) keeps people from not buying in the restaurants,” Spruill said. “The intent is for people to patronize the areas there and then they can enjoy the atmosphere in the district. … And so I think the ultimate goal would be met.”

Spruill said the board has so far received no feedback on the proposed ordinance changes. No one spoke for or against the changes Tuesday night during the first public hearing.

The second public hearing for the Leisure and Recreation District amendments will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 15 in City Hall. At that time, the board can vote on the changes.