Conway public drinking zone gets renewed attention as part of downtown growth plan

When Sean Kobos launched The Crafty Rooster in 2009, he was hesitant to meet with business partners and investors in downtown Conway — despite his restaurant’s Third Avenue location.

“Conway was a ghost town, and it was rough. I was embarrassed to bring them downtown on a Sunday because we had no business,” Kobos said during an Oct. 17 city council meeting. “Since then, Conway’s gone through its renaissance.”

Today, Kobos’ popular eatery known to locals as The Bird on Third is part of a growing business district dotted with boutique stores, public art displays and manicured sidewalks.

But even bigger changes may be in store for the city as officials consider expanding the iconic Riverwalk and allowing public consumption of alcohol in merchant-heavy areas.

The Riverwalk’s continued growth is a top priority for Conway leaders

A 2017 master plan said connecting the 1 1/2-mile trail that hugs the Waccamaw to S.C. 905 would create new opportunities for tourism and business development.

A year later, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved an application for the project but the work never happened. With the permit set to lapse in June, officials are getting ready to solicit engineering costs to move forward with the extension.

“The Riverwalk is important to who we are and something everyone wants to see extended,” assistant city manager Mary Catherine Hyman said Oct. 17.

Jim Backman and his wife Lynn found their way to the Riverwalk Oct. 20 while on vacation from Salt Lake City. They stopped along the route, smiling as turtles popped out of the black river and reading about local history on markers installed along the pathway.

“We talked to a friend and they said, ‘oh, don’t miss the Riverwalk,” he said. “We really love it. I feel so lucky that somebody told us about it.”

Talks are continuing on a public consumption zone

A recent Conway Chamber of Commerce member survey found strong support for the creation of a district allowing for the public consumption of alcohol while also rolling back last call from 2 a.m. to midnight, with more than two-thirds of its members backing the concept.

The idea was first floated over the summer with a proposed corridor from Third and Fourth avenues and downtown Main Street to Fifth Avenue — covering about 15 businesses in all.

Right now, it’s illegal for people to have an open container in public unless they’re attending a permitted event such as the Rivertown Music and Beer Festival.

“One of the concerns that I’ve heard is that people just come with their bottles of beer hidden in their coats and start drinking. Those glass bottles would be banned by the ordinance,” deputy city administrator John Rogers said during an Oct. 17 workshop.

Instead, alcohol would only be allowed to be consumed in cups handed out by restaurants within the zone. Merchants could also prohibit drinks from being carried into their stores.

Police Chief Dale Long said Hartsville, a Darlington County city of nearly 8,000, said it’s had a public consumption zone in place since 2014.

“They have noticed no underlying problem. The only caution we had is that if you’re in the areas where there’s already lots and lots of foot traffic, you might have people who will try to take advantage with glass bottles,” Long told the city council.

If a consumption zone is implemented, it’s possible last call could remain at 2 a.m. for locations elsewhere — particularly near Coastal Carolina University.

“You cut it off at midnight and everybody is congregating in the streets and parking lots,” councilman William Goldfinch said. “I’m not so much concerned about that in downtown as I am about a bar near Coastal shutting down at midnight when you’ve got a lot of people in there.”