Stillwater city officials plan to continue studying the possibility of creating a downtown social district before deciding whether to proceed with a test run.

“I think it could be a net positive,” said Mayor Ted Kozlowski. “My issue right now is, is it worth the effort for staff to go through it? There’s a lot of people downtown who want to see this happen, and there’s a lot of people downtown who are afraid of it. I would like to get all of them really involved.”

Staff at the Stillwater City Council meeting on Wednesday presented the results of an online community engagement survey on social districts, where people are allowed to walk around and shop with alcoholic drinks in hand. Of the more than 425 people who responded, 50 percent were against the idea, 44 percent were in favor and 5 percent were neutral.

Most downtown residents who were surveyed said they were against the idea of a social district.

Among the concerns raised: public intoxication; rowdy or obnoxious behavior; overconsumption and underage drinking; litter, and the environmental impact of single-use plastic cups.

The top perceived benefits were economic growth and tourism, increased flexibility and the freedom to move about having a drink while waiting for a table or shopping.

“I think the reality is probably somewhere in between all those,” community development director Jason Zimmerman told the council. “It’s probably not as bad as people’s worst fears and probably not going to bring a huge boon that people might hope for. So the reality is probably somewhere in between, which doesn’t make your job any easier.”

Kozlowski asked staff to continue to research the subject and survey residents about how they would feel if the social district was in place only in the fall, winter and spring, saying that summers in Stillwater are already busy enough. He also encouraged staff to reach out to local businesses and organizations to help with planning and potentially help with operations.

“I’d like to exhaust all of the pitfalls and options for this before we actually cut it off,” he said. “I like the seasonal idea.”

Police Chief Brian Mueller said he had “zero concerns” about the possible implementation of a social district. “We respond to behavior,” he said. “We don’t need any more officers to police this, but I also don’t want my officers to be the ‘red Solo cup police’ downtown and trying to manage that.”

Legislative approval

Greg and Shelly Peterson, left, and Lori and Jason Troiden, right, walk with drinks in Anoka’s Riverfront Memorial Park on Friday, June 20, 2025. (Mary Divine / Pioneer Press)

The Minnesota Legislature gave Stillwater permission in 2024 to create and operate a social district in its downtown. Anoka and Shakopee also received Legislative approval for social districts.

Anoka was the first city in the state to pilot the initiative with a month-long trial in 2023. It was brought back for a five-month run in 2024, and then started again in May; Shakopee’s social district will be operational in September.

Here’s how they work: Licensed businesses are allowed to sell alcoholic beverages using official “social district” cups. These drinks could be consumed on the sidewalk, in the park or within retail locations that choose to participate in the program. Signs mark the boundaries, and no drinks are allowed outside of the district. The city sets the days and hours of operation. Anoka’s social district season, for example, runs from May 1 to Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

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Patrons in Anoka who want to sip and stroll spend an extra 50 cents to get a marked clear plastic cup; the city sells the cups to bars and restaurants for 25 cents each with an extra 25-cent fee to help cover the cost of recycling bins and cleanup.

Visitors are not allowed to bring their own alcohol to the district – a fact that concerned some of the Stillwater City Council members who like the city’s policy of allowing alcoholic beverages in city parks, especially Lowell Park.

“We’ve been very liberal about having alcohol in parks,” said Stillwater City Council member Larry Odebrecht, adding that alcohol is banned only in Teddy Bear Park. “For me personally, I haven’t found a single person who’s come up to me in my ward that is in favor of this and a whole bunch of people outside of my ward have come to me and said, ‘This is crazy. This is going too far.’ My advice would be, stop here. If we could do an easy test that I thought would be good, I’m in, but I’m out at this point.”

Differing opinions

Council member Lindsay Belland said she would like the council to consider approving a social district downtown on a trial basis and then possibly expanding it.

“To be clear, we’re not talking about increased intoxication or increased consumption,” she said. “We’re talking about increased spaces in which people can responsibly enjoy a beverage, possibly to the benefit of those businesses who want to opt in. … Really what the pilot program allows is for the city to really take in metrics, to really look at this in a localized way that truly is Stillwater. It’s not Anoka.”

Council member Mike Polehna questioned why Stillwater would ever need to implement a social district.

An antique store displays a sign welcoming people with special cups into the store in downtown Anoka. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“I’m just trying to figure out, what are we trying to do?” he said. “Are we trying to draw people to downtown, or are we trying to open our streets up to drinking? We have so many people downtown. … They used it to bring people into Anoka. We’re not Anoka. We don’t have a people problem. Well, we do have a people problem. We have too many people. We don’t have a shortage of people. So what do we gain?”

Kozlowski stressed that the implementation of any social district in Stillwater would not turn the downtown area into New Orleans or Las Vegas.

“That’s not what this is. That’s not what it would ever become like,” he said. “It’s not going to dynamically change the character of our town because someone can walk down Main Street with a beer. We’re not selling giant hurricanes. I don’t think anyone’s going to start throwing beads out of their windows off the second floor of Main Street.”

Zimmerman said next steps could include forming a work group consisting of stakeholders; working on getting answers to operational questions and doing more education.

“From what I’m hearing, a lot of people don’t understand exactly what a social district is or how it operates,” Zimmerman said. “We will be looking at examples of other social districts around the country because Minnesota really only has Anoka to look to as an example.”

He said he was intrigued by the idea of having the social district dates be limited to the shoulder season “to help boost businesses during the slower parts of the year.”

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Naming rights policy

City officials also expressed on Wednesday night no interest in developing a naming rights policy for the city.

City staff explored a potential policy after a local company inquired about having the St. Croix Recreation Center’s dome named after it.

Said Kozlowski: “It would be easier just to say we’re not naming anything. I don’t want to name anything. … We don’t name parks after people anymore, right? I think it just opens up something we just don’t need, and it’s tacky.”