Councilors to welcome public input on social districts at Monday hearing

Should Concord allow alcohol purchased at local bars and restaurants to be consumed in designated areas outside? City leaders want the public’s input.

Concord City Councilors will decide after a public hearing Monday night whether to put that question to voters this November.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers allowed cities and downs to set aside social districts, or outdoor areas where people could “sip and stroll.” Only drinks bought from certified, participating businesses would be allowed in these areas, and regulations from the state liquor commission would still apply.

A ‘yes’ vote from councilors on Monday wouldn’t implement this system immediately.

For social districts to happen in Concord, voters will have to approve them on their ballots first. If voters green-light social districts, the city will need to adopt its own outline for where these areas would go and businesses would also have to get on board.

If city leaders decide not to put the social districts question on the ballot, though, a group of residents would need to put together a petition to get it there.

Other items up for public comment Monday night include:

• A tax agreement with the company arranging a solar farm on a former city landfill. The payments of $3 million over 20 years, or just under $100,000 per year, are part of a contract with Kearsarge Energy to put a large solar array atop the former landfill on Old Turnpike Road. These payments include lease payments and payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOTs, an agreement that the state allows municipalities to enter into with renewable energy facilities.

• The acceptance of about $860,000 in Housing Champions grant money from the state to go towards a sewer project on the Heights. This money, designed to support infrastructure and other housing growth needs, is a drop in the bucket given the cost of the full project, which councilors approved in 2024. The project includes the $7 million replacement of a sewer pump near the Steeplegate Mall and about $18 million in sewer main upgrades serving the East Side.