Picture this: You’ve finished enjoying dinner and drinks at a restaurant, and you pour your alcoholic beverage into a to-go cup. You can bring it home or sip it as you wander around downtown.

That’s the vision endorsed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives, which voted on Thursday to allow municipalities to create their own “social districts.”

These designated areas, typically in a downtown, would allow customers to buy alcoholic beverages to go and consume them anywhere in the outlined social district. They’re often called “sip and stroll” areas.

Bill Boyd, a Republican from Merrimack who sponsored House Bill 467, branded it as an economic stimulus.

“People leaving a restaurant now, they’re going to be able to congregate and recreate within that social district,” Boyd said. “They’re going to visit a local business. They’re going to be promoting and stimulating the small businesses that are participating in that particular social district.”

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne co-sponsored the bill, saying in a social media post last month that New Hampshire could “finally join the civilized world” by allowing to-go drinks in social districts.

The House voted overwhelmingly to accept the proposal, though it still needs approval from the Senate and Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

If a city or town chooses to establish a social district – a vote that would be up for debate at town and city meetings – it comes with some rules. The designated area has to be clearly defined with explicit signage that shows the district’s boundaries and operating hours, which are up to the locality that creates it.

Beverages would have to be purchased from a licensed restaurant within the social district and carried in approved non-glass containers no larger than 16 ounces. People also wouldn’t be allowed to exit the social district with the beverage and would have to throw it away before leaving.

Nashua Democrat Manoj Chourasia spoke against the bill, saying it’d place an unnecessary burden on law enforcement and take tax money to operate the social district, including issues like traffic control and public safety.

He also warned they could create an environment where families don’t want to shop or spend time.

“Allowing alcoholic beverages in public spaces will create a bad impression on younger children who are taught in schools, ‘Say no to alcohol,’” Chourasia said. “It’ll also make it easier for minors to obtain alcoholic drinks if they have a legal-aged friend, and that should be a big concern.”

His reservations didn’t sway the House, however, which approved the bill 314-14.

 

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.