Tim Ricard, Economic Development Manager
Downtown Entertainment Zone: Discussion and Direction to Staff
Provide direction to staff on whether to prepare an ordinance establishing a downtown entertainment zone.
The recommended action supports the goals of Fiscal Health and Organizational Effectiveness. Goal Statement: Ensure the economic health and long-term financial viability of the Town. Goal Statement: Achieve a high performing organization by nurturing an engaged workforce committed to a shared vision of public service.
A downtown tasting room owner has asked the Town to create an entertainment zone, a defined area where customers can buy a drink at a participating bar, restaurant, or tasting room and carry it onto the sidewalks and public spaces nearby. Senate Bill 969, which took effect in 2025, makes this arrangement possible. Santa Rosa will launch a downtown pilot entertainment zone in early 2027, and Windsor has hosted a similar arrangement during the pandemic without incident. Staff researched the idea in August, surveyed downtown businesses in September, and is now seeking direction from the Council regarding whether to draft an ordinance.
What state law allows
Senate Bill 969, effective January 1, 2025, authorizes a city to adopt an ordinance creating an entertainment zone in which bars, restaurants, breweries, and wineries may sell drinks “to-go” for consumption on the public streets and sidewalks within the boundaries of the zone. The ordinance sets the boundaries, days and hours, permitted beverages, and container rules. Licensees, meaning those who have a license to sell alcohol with the State, inside the zone that want to take part file an annual notice with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). Participation is voluntary.
State law provides several requirements and regulations of entertainment zones. Containers cannot be made from glass or metal. Every drink in the zone must be bought at a licensed business inside the zone. Patrons must exit the business directly into the zone. Each participating business must prohibit alcohol bought elsewhere from its premises.
These conditions answer a question several businesses asked:
• Where can the drink go? It can go anywhere on the public street or sidewalk inside the boundary of the entertainment zone. It cannot go into another bar, restaurant, or tasting room. It cannot go into a shop without an alcohol license, such as a boutique or jewelry store. The state authorization covers public right of way only, and ABC treats an unlicensed business that provides a place for customers to drink alcohol they brought in as operating without a license as a nuisance (Business and Professions Code Section 25604). A customer must finish the drink or leave it outside before going into a shop.
What Windsor has already done
During the pandemic, Council waived the Municipal Code prohibition on drinking in the downtown right-of-way to support Downtown Street Eats and the parklet program (Ordinances 2020-345, 2021-350, and 2021-356). The Police Department reported no increase in alcohol-related incidents or issues. In November 2022, the Council made the change permanent: Section 3-2-100 now allows consumption in the right-of-way "where and when permitted by the Town" between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. This change allowed alcohol to be served and carried in the parklets. However, under this existing language, an alcoholic beverage still cannot leave the premises of a licensed business. Creating an entertainment zone by ordinance pursuant to SB969 is the only mechanism which would allow a patron to take their alcoholic beverage with them into public as they leave the premises of a business. Alcohol on the Town Green is regulated separately under Section 5-1-240 through the Park Authority.
How this differs from the Winter Wine Walk
Windsor already hosts events where people walk downtown with a drink, such as the Winter Wine Walk and Spring Fling. For the Wine Walk, the Chamber of Commerce obtains a Town special event permit and a one-day ABC license, and for the hours of the event (5 to 8 p.m.) the downtown event area becomes the licensed premises under that license. Tasting rooms that participate suspend their own licenses for those hours and pour one-ounce tastings as part of the event. A tasting room that does not participate can keep selling, but no open container can leave its premises. Attendees buy a ticket and receive a wristband and a glass. When the event ends, so does the allowance.
An entertainment zone works the other way around. Each business keeps its own license, sells a full drink at its regular price, and lets the customer walk out with it, on a recurring schedule, with no event, ticket, or permit. The Wine Walk sets the businesses' licenses aside temporarily so the event can pour; while an entertainment zone extends them so the businesses can sell. The two can coexist.
What other cities are doing
Santa Rosa's City Council endorsed a weekend downtown pilot on January 27, 2026, with activation estimated in early 2027. San Francisco has more than 30 zones, mostly event-based, with participating bars reporting sales up 20 percent or more. Sacramento and Long Beach launched event-only pilots in 2025. Every zone is bounded, scheduled, limited to approved cups from participating licensees, and revocable by ordinance.
Santa Rosa (proposed). Weekend pilot of 6 to 12 months, Friday through Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. Two marked zones at Courthouse Square and Railroad Square; wristbands after ID check; nonglass, nonmetal cups; no consumption in parking lots or garages.
San Francisco. More than 30 zones, mostly event-activated; Valencia Street operates most days. Marked boundaries, with drinks only from participating licensees inside the zone.
Sacramento. Three event-activated zones, used for a handful of events per year. Police-approved security plans; ID checks; branded containers; no outside alcohol.
Long Beach. One-year, event-based pilot with hours set per event. Official "EZ Sip" cup sold by participating businesses; posted boundaries.
Business outreach
On September 16, 2026, staff emailed a memo and a seven-question survey to 157 downtown business owners and managers, with responses requested by October 9. Seven businesses responded.
Six of the seven survey respondents support the concept. Respondents include two licensed wine businesses, a chocolate shop, a restaurant, a design studio, a dental practice, and a veterinary hospital. The one opposed, a restaurant, objects to downtown events generally, stating that the events take away parking, pickup customers cannot find a space, and outside vendors take sales from storefront businesses. Whether an entertainment zone with no vendors and no street closures has the same effect is something the pilot should measure.
• Schedule. Two survey responses prefer a weekend pilot, one prefers event-based zones only, two want both options, and one licensee wants a zone established seven days a week. The licensee asking for seven days said customers will not keep track of off days. Both licensees who responded to the survey said they would participate in the zone.
• Boundaries. Most want the zone to be within the area of the Town Green and surrounding blocks. Two respondents independently named Olivers as the western edge, and one extended the zone east to Spur Saloon. One proposed specific segments: Windsor Road from the Joe Rodota Trail to the roundabout, Duvander Lane, McClelland Drive between Windsor Road and Market Street, and David Clayton Lane.
• Non-licensed businesses. Two respondents asked whether a shop without an alcohol license can admit a customer with a drink. The answer is no, for the reasons in the Background. One food business said it would rather be outside the zone than have to turn people away; under state law its position is the same either way.
• Restrooms and litter. Three respondents raised one or both. Suggestions included public restrooms near the Green, letting cup holders use participating businesses' restrooms, and receptacles for cups that do not go home.
• Enforcement. Respondents asked how outside alcohol and public intoxication would be handled. These questions will be answered and develop by the Police Department during the design phase.
• The cup. Most who commented liked the idea of a Downtown Windsor cup. Some want one shared design; some want small logos of participating businesses.
• Process. One licensee suggested a committee of participating businesses to advise on the details.
Economic development considerations
• Sales for licensees. San Francisco licensees on Valencia Street report sales up 20 percent or more on zone days. Both licensees that responded expect to benefit and would participate.
• Spillover to other retailers. Several respondents without licenses supported the zone for this reason. Longer visits are what make the Wine Walk a good evening for downtown shops, and establishing a zone would produce a similar level of engagement every weekend rather than a few times a year.
• A distinct identity. Staff is not aware of another Sonoma County city besides Santa Rosa pursuing establishing an entertainment zone. One licensee called it “the missing reason to ride SMART to Windsor.”
It fits the Economic Development Strategic Plan's downtown activation goals.
• Business retention. The request came from a downtown licensee, and six of seven survey respondents want the Town to try it. A pilot is a low-cost answer.
Options for Council direction
Staff is not recommending an option at this stage. Every active option would share the same guardrails: a mapped zone with posted boundaries, participation limited to licensees inside the zone, no consumption in parking lots or garages, an end time no later than 10 p.m., and a pilot period with a report back to Council. Staff has begun discussing enforcement, security, and the container standard with Chief Piccinini and would develop a specific proposal with the Police Department if Council directs staff to proceed.
1. Status quo. Keep alcohol at events inside permitted beer gardens and under the existing Municipal Code. No new risk, and no response to the request.
2. Event-activated zone. Active only during Town-designated events such as Summer Nights on the Green or the holiday tree lighting. The Sacramento and Long Beach model, and the most cautious test. It also ties the zone to the events the one opposed respondent already objects to.
3. Recurring weekend pilot. Friday through Sunday, roughly noon to 9 or 10 p.m., for six to twelve months with a sunset date. The Santa Rosa model. Predictable for businesses and customers, and Windsor could borrow from Santa Rosa's management plan.
4. Hybrid. The weekend pilot plus activation during Town events on other days. Two respondents asked for this; it would let the Town compare the two modes during the pilot.
5. Daily zone. Seven days a week during business hours, such as 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Requested by one licensee. No comparable city has started here; it is a place to expand to after a pilot.
Questions for Council
1. Which option, if any, should staff develop into a draft ordinance?
2. Should the initial boundary be the Town Green and the blocks immediately around it, or the larger
area respondents described (roughly Olivers to Spur Saloon along Windsor Road, plus the side streets)?
3. Should the pilot run six months or twelve, and should it be timed to the 2027 season so Windsor can learn from Santa Rosa's launch?
4. Does Council support a reusable Downtown Windsor cup as the required container?
5. Should staff convene a working group of downtown businesses to advise on boundaries, hours, cup design, and operations?
Next steps
If Council directs staff to proceed, staff would return with a draft ordinance, a container standard and management plan developed with the Police Department, and a twelve-month evaluation plan, with a target of having the zone in place for the 2027 season. If Council prefers the status quo, staff would report back to the businesses that responded and close the item.
This report is for discussion only; no decision will be made and there is no fiscal impact. If Council directs staff to develop an ordinance, direct costs would be limited to boundary signage, cup receptacles, and any added cleanup during zone hours. The cup is intended to be cost-neutral, sold by participating businesses at the counter. Staff time would come from the Economic Development Division and the Police Department within existing budgets. Any sales increase would flow through to sales tax revenue.
Environmental review is not required because no action will be taken. An informational report is not a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The prior ordinances in this series used the CEQA common sense exemption, and any future ordinance would be reviewed for CEQA compliance before Council acts on it.