photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Downtown Lawrence is pictured from the 700 block of Massachusetts Street looking northeast on Jan. 5, 2023.

A plan to create an open alcohol consumption area on Massachusetts Street has been drawing mixed reactions — both from downtown Lawrence stakeholders and from Lawrence city commissioners.

At its meeting on Tuesday, the City Commission had its first in-depth conversation with city staff about the plans for the common consumption area, or CCA, and what the city has learned from outreach to downtown businesses. Porter Arneill, the city’s assistant director for arts and culture, said that since the conversations with business owners started in May, there’s been no real consensus.

“(Opinion) runs the gamut,” Arneill said of the downtown stakeholders’ reactions. “Some people are saying, ‘Let’s do this. There’s no question.’ Other people are saying, ‘Absolutely not; this will be a bad thing for downtown.’ And there’s every (opinion) in between.”

In general, a CCA allows people to buy drinks from bars or restaurants that opt in to the program and then walk around with those drinks inside the designated area — which, in this case, would be concentrated on Massachusetts Street and a few areas directly adjacent to it. Businesses would also be able to decide whether to allow people to enter their premises while carrying a drink. Patrons aren’t allowed to leave a CCA with their drink, and alcohol also can’t be brought in from outside the CCA.

Arneill said some downtown business owners thought the plan would be beneficial and could bring people downtown, while others worried about security concerns and other potential problems.

Commissioners were split, too. One commissioner, Lisa Larsen, said she was not interested in the proposal. Other commissioners were concerned about additional costs to the city; how it would affect special downtown events like the Busker Festival; or whether the CCA could be limited to special events or certain times of the year.

Arneill said that the city would have a lot of flexibility to come up with a plan that is best “for Lawrence,” especially based on what commissioners direct. But the work session seemed to leave more questions than answers. Some of the many questions asked by commissioners — such as what the increased costs would be or how many businesses would be involved — are tough to answer because of the newness of the program.

This type of district is relatively new in Kansas as a whole, Arneill said; the state law that allowed CCAs was passed in 2023, and 40 other CCAs have been proposed across the state since then.

Arneill said that while drafting the Lawrence plan, he spoke with other Kansas communities like Hays, which implemented a CCA in its downtown last fall. But he said there is not much usable data from existing CCAs yet because they are so new.

Until more of the details are figured out, Arneill said many of the effects of the CCA are just a “guessing game.” Many businesses he spoke with about the plan were on the fence of whether or not they would opt in, in part because the CCA is still just a draft at this point.

“It’s hard to get definitive information to base additional research on,” Arneill said.

Despite the questions, the commission asked Arneill to keep up the early planning and outreach efforts, though no other definitive steps were given. Mayor Bart Littlejohn said that it’s clear the city is still in the information stage and not ready to draft any ordinances to implement the program.

Commissioner Amber Sellers, who was one of the early proponents of the CCA project, said she felt frustrated that many people in the city went to the worst-case scenario of excess trash and “drunk derelicts” downtown.

Sellers said that when she had visited places with similar programs, the special districts created a “nice vibe,” and she was disappointed that many people wanted to shoot the idea down. She said that just like the “parklets” program that created outdoor dining areas in parking spaces — which she said faced similar scrutiny — this option could be a way for the city to make the downtown experience more unique.

“(Many) communities use the CCA to elevate programs that are done downtown,” Sellers said. “I think this can help us imagine what we can do downtown.”