Another outdoor dining district may be popping up in Northwest Arkansas soon.
This week Springdale City Council will be discussing an ordinance that would establish an entertainment district.
Springdale could soon join Fayetteville with an outdoor entertainment district.
City Council members will meet Tuesday to go over the ordinance brought forth by chairman Mike Overton.
Fayetteville recently passed an ordinance that opens up its restaurants for outdoor dining and allows patrons to walk around outside with designated cups for drinking.
It's a plan that was in the works before COVID-19 but with the pandemic, it has become an asset for certain businesses.
Locals here in Springdale say downtown has seen positive changes with investments from Tyson and the Walton Foundation.
They hope a new ordinance like an outdoor dining district could draw in more people to shop locally.
“I find it a little unfortunate that we had to have a pandemic to catalyze reasonable legislation I think it’s long overdue... we have every bit as much to offer downtown Bentonville and Fayetteville do we’re just the last to come online so we’ll see what happens it’s going to be an interesting next couple of years,” said Josh Bradshaw, a local.
Hearing it from Bradshaw with that closing statement, locals see the ordinance as a way to work through the pandemic by spacing things out and utilizing outside spaces and potentially boost its downtown economy long after COVID-19.
The meeting is this Tuesday (July 28) at 6 p.m.