As restaurants and bars in Hattiesburg slowly begin to reopen under strict guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hattiesburg City Council members have instituted a city-wide “to-go cup” ordinance they hope will help bolster revenue at those establishments.
The ordinance, which was passed at a special-called meeting May 15, operates under the same provisions as the current Leisure and Recreation Districts already in place in midtown and downtown that allow patrons to exit an establishment with an alcoholic drink. The ordinance will last until Gov. Tate Reeves’s “safer at home” order expires or after 90 days, whichever is longer.
“Basically what we did, because of the restaurants and bars hurting so much, what we wanted to do is make everything equal,” council president Carter Carroll said. “Previously, the to-go cup ordinance had only been in the downtown area and the midtown area, and so now every area of Hattiesburg now has the go-cup provision.
“So hopefully this will stimulate some of the restaurants and bars. All we did is expand the area – everything else is the same (as the downtown and midtown ordinances).”
Under the ordinance, a patron may not possess or consume an alcoholic beverage, beer or wine that was not purchased from an on-premise retail alcohol beverage permittee located within each district, and a person may not enter a licensed premise with an open or closed container of alcohol acquired elsewhere.
Alcoholic beverages must be served in a can, paper, plastic, Styrofoam or other non-glass container, and patrons are not allowed to exit a premise with more than one open container.
Each premise will be required to place a trash receptacle at the exit door of the establishment. No one will be allowed to drive a motor vehicle with an open container.
“I think everybody’s happy that we are trying to reopen,” Carroll said. “Everybody wants to get back to doing business.”
