Downtown Santa Monica’s weekend "Entertainment Zone" might be on the verge of a serious glow-up, with much of the commercial core potentially turning into a walkable drinking district. The board of Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) has voted to ask City Hall for a significantly larger zone where adults could legally carry drinks outside, stretching the concept beyond the Third Street Promenade and letting DTSM activate the zone anywhere inside future Council-approved boundaries. The push comes after a six-month pilot that city staff say did not trigger a crime spike, even as results for retailers and overall foot traffic have been murkier.
At a recent meeting, the DTSM board backed a request for a new ordinance that would expand the zone to an area roughly framed by Fourth Street on the west, Ocean Avenue on the east, Wilshire Boulevard to the north and Colorado Avenue to the south. Board members were told they could secure the ordinance first and decide later how much of the territory to actually flip on, and seven of the 12 members present voted to move the proposal ahead. The recommendation followed a half-year report from the city’s economic development team that suggested broadening the map to scoop in nearby spots such as the Westside Comedy Theater, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press.
Pilot rules and the state law that made it possible
The Entertainment Zone started as a three-block test run on the Third Street Promenade and currently operates Fridays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Participating bars and restaurants have to check IDs, hand out city wristbands, and pour drinks only into non-glass containers. The City Council signed off on the pilot, which soft-launched in June to test operating hours, security needs, and merchant interest, per the City of Santa Monica. The legal authority for local entertainment zones comes from state law, Senate Bill 969, and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control requires participating license holders to file notices and follow specific conditions in order to join in, according to the ABC.
No crime surge, but retail lift is uncertain
The Santa Monica Police Department told the DTSM board that the pilot did not lead to an increase in downtown crime tied to the zone. Officers shifted more attention to the area, which resulted in more officer-initiated contacts and fewer calls coming in from the public. On the economic side, city staff said they do not have citywide sales figures that clearly show the zone boosting retail, pointing instead to only anecdotal bumps at seven participating businesses while overall foot traffic declined year-over-year and vacancy rates edged up. Staff also noted that private security guards stepped in early on many incidents, so they never rose to the level of a police response, and they advised beefing up staffing if the Entertainment Zone gets larger, estimating six officers per activation at around $1,600 per day, with extra event staffing likely to push costs higher. The board’s support broke along familiar philosophical lines: former Mayor Gleam Davis applauded the idea of a broader rollout, while board member Stanley Iezman pushed back, warning, "People do not come to Santa Monica to buy a beer," as reported by the Santa Monica Daily Press.
What comes next
Because entertainment zones exist under local ordinances that rely on state law, any move to enlarge the downtown footprint will have to go through the City Council, with the usual rounds of public hearings, according to the ABC. The DTSM board’s vote is essentially a formal nudge, asking the city to draft a broader ordinance and setting up future council debates where staffing levels, enforcement details, and neighborhood impacts will all be up for scrutiny.
Expect some spirited back-and-forth at upcoming meetings as merchants, residents, and neighborhood groups argue over whether a larger Entertainment Zone is the key to reviving downtown business or a step toward reshaping the Promenade’s character. We will be watching the council agenda and any draft ordinance language as Santa Monica decides whether to turn the pilot into a permanent, city-sanctioned weekend scene.
