You could soon have a little more room to walk around with a drink in downtown Sturgeon Bay.

The Sturgeon Bay Common Council will review and consider an expansion of the area that allows residents and visitors to walk around downtown with an open alcoholic beverage. The district was born out of the pandemic, when area restaurants were looking for ways to increase sales at a time when people were uneasy about going out.

District 4 Alderperson Spencer Gustafson helped design the current ordinance in response to requests from local businesses and Destination Sturgeon Bay. Some concerns residents had about the downtown entertainment district involved littering and law enforcement. Gustafson says that based on feedback from the Sturgeon Bay Police Department, there have been no issues and, in fact, conditions have improved.

The proposed expansion of the downtown entertainment district includes areas where new restaurants have opened since the pandemic, additional portions of the waterfront and the footprint of the Sturgeon Bay Farmers Market.

Gustafson says if the proposal makes it through committee and Common Council meetings next month, the new boundaries could be in effect by Destination Sturgeon Bay’s Harvest Fest on Sept. 19.