Dixon Management Analyst Sam Correll explains details behind entertainment zones to members of the Dixon City Council on Oct. 20.

DIXON, CA (MPG) – The city of Dixon is gathering information about establishing an “entertainment zone,” a designated outdoor public area where patrons could drink alcohol sold by eligible businesses during specified periods.

Dixon City Council asked city staff during its Oct. 20 meeting to research the concept and report findings in the coming months.

Earlier this year, the city received a proposal from the Downtown Dixon Business Association proposing the establishment of a Downtown Dixon Entertainment Zone to boost activity and revenue for local businesses.

An entertainment zone has the potential to boost downtown business activity, which has been down over the past six months, said Jill Orr, president of the Downtown Dixon Business Association.

“It's concerning for us because most of us downtown don’t work on a big margin,” she said. “Any downtick is going to affect us quite a bit.”

However, there are concerns from other city residents that an entertainment zone would boost bureaucracy while doing nothing more than letting people meander about outside with cups of alcohol.

During the meeting, City Council gave city officials approval to conduct additional research on entertainment zones, including meeting with members of the Downtown Dixon Business Association.

Entertainment zones are areas where consumers are permitted to leave a licensed establishment with open containers of alcohol to walk and drink within a defined area. Entertainment zones are only active during designated hours or events, set by the city. 

The concept behind entertainment zones became law in California nearly two years ago with the passage of Senate Bill 969. 

Since then, a number of municipalities across the state have created entertainment zones, including Suisun City, Woodland and Vacaville. Sacramento has at least 11 different entertainment zones. Each municipality can set its own guidelines for how its entertainment zone is operated, such as what areas are included in the zone and when the zones are in effect.

“There isn’t one standard across the board,” Sam Correll, a management analyst with the city, told City Council members.

The law behind entertainment zones contains an array of provisions, such as requiring an entertainment zone to be connected to at least one business selling alcohol, and the zone can only be in operation as long as that business is open. Because state law prohibits the sale of alcohol between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., no entertainment zone could operate during that period, for example. 

Entertainment zones come with additional costs and requirements, which can include additional security, signage or barriers for designated areas and wristbands for alcohol consumption.

Given that entertainment zones have only been in existence for a couple of years in California, it’s difficult to assess long-term impacts of the law. But the concept has detractors, including Daniel Stiles, a policy consultant at the Institute for Public Strategies, a San Diego-based public health-focused advocacy organization.

“Research shows entertainment districts are associated with more alcohol-related harms,” he wrote in November 2024.