Culver City to establish Downtown Entertainment Zone pilot program

The Culver City City Council voted to approve the implementation of an Entertainment Zone pilot program for two years in Downtown Culver City at its meeting Monday night. Patrons in the Entertainment Zone during special city events like the Annual Downtown Culver City Independence Day Celebration, Culver Pride & Ride Festival, and the Christmas Tree Lighting Sled-tacular would be allowed to carry alcoholic beverages outside of the restaurant or bar where they purchased them.

The limitations to the borders of the Zone will span the entirety of the Downtown Business Improvement District, but the final boundaries are yet to be determined and will be based on the locations of participating businesses and other circumstances, according to Culver City Downtown Business Association Executive Director Darrel Menthe.

Councilmember Bubba Fish proposed that the Entertainment Zone's boundaries be flexible based on the special event for safety purposes, but his motion failed with only Councilmember Yasmine-Imani McMorrin supporting him in the vote.

Drinking alcohol in public spaces outside of bars and restaurants is generally prohibited in Culver City, so the City's Municipal Code will be amended as part of this decision. Participating businesses will also have to register with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to serve drinks in the Entertainment Zone, in addition to possessing a standard liquor license.

Outside drinks will not be allowed in the Entertainment Zone to encourage engagement with the members of the Downtown Business Improvement District. Funneling potential customers to Culver City restaurants is a key incentive of this Entertainment Zone, and those participating would use branded cups and wristbands to highlight these businesses and the Zone.

"What better way to show small businesses that we support them than by activating this Entertainment Zone?" Councilmember Albert Vera wondered aloud at Monday's meeting.

Members of the council were on board with the idea as a means to activate the Downtown area and support its businesses. Still, some safety concerns created hesitancy to move forward, particularly from Councilmember Fish.

He emphasized his belief in the importance of considering pedestrian safety and expressed concerns that the increased volumes of intoxicated pedestrians walking Downtown sidewalks would exacerbate the risk of and potentially cause pedestrian traffic accidents.

Fish pointed out that the model the city is using — which could include the entire Downtown Business Improvement District — is much larger than the three blocks used by Santa Monica or most of the Entertainment Zones established in San Francisco, creating additional exposure to potential tragedies.

San Fransico has an Entertainment Zone as large as 11 acres at the Chase Center's Thrive City community space, but many of the currently established Entertainment Zones in California only consist of several street blocks and are contained to a single corridor.

Among the largest of these are the Santa Monica Promenade Entertainment Zone (0.4 miles) and San Francisco's Valencia Street Entertainment Zone (0.6 miles), both of which include a high concentration of alcohol-serving restaurants within their borders.

Culver City's proposed Zone would most likely extend past the confines of a single street or corridor. To alleviate his safety concerns, which were echoed by several public commenters Monday night, Fish proposed that Culver City's Entertainment Zone boundaries be flexible based on the event being hosted, similar to the system in Long Beach.

This would allow the city to keep the Zone confined to areas where vehicle traffic is closed, allowing for safer pedestrian travel.

"I think this is a really good opportunity for the city and for people to enjoy our Downtown," Fish said, "and I am looking forward to hopefully approving it tonight."

"One concern I have is around folks who are intoxicated and interacting in the public right-of-way."

Vice Mayor Freddy Puza empathized with the concerns related to safety, but was concerned about the implementation and the confusion that could come with limiting the boundaries and excluding businesses as a result.

Staff didn't have any information on safety in San Francisco's Entertainment Zones, but told Puza that they were in communication with Santa Monica. They reported that there had not been any pedestrian traffic incidents connected to Santa Monica's Entertainment Zone, which operates on the 3rd Street Promenade from Wilshire Boulevard to Broadway every Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Mayor Dan O'Brien said that he had faith in the safety approach from the Culver City Police Department, and argued that getting drinks at a restaurant or bar has more potential to cause pedestrian traffic accidents than the Entertainment Zone does.

"They are going in and getting a drink, then walking away," O'Brien said of patrons participating in an Entertainment Zone. "I would argue they are probably more sober than the person who's staying in the bar."

With police already present at the special events this Zone would be activated in, minimal projected expenses are associated with this motion. The additional cost of $17,347 for three Third Wednesdays and $14,883 for seven Summer Concert Series events makes up a bulk of the $46,830 cost estimate provided with this motion, but the number of events could be modified to decrease costs further.

Fish and McMorrin also proposed that businesses in the zone share the costs of providing the additional staffing for this Entertainment Zone, but Vera pushed back against forcing costs onto businesses. This cost-sharing proposal was not included in the final recommendation by council.

The motion to move forward as initially recommended by staff passed 4-1, with Fish serving as the dissenting vote.

With the approval to move forward with the establishment of the borders and the update to the Municipal Code, the Entertainment Zone is expected to be fully established in 2026. Menthe told Culver Crescent that he was hopeful that the process could be completed in time for the 2026 Culver City Car Show, which is May 9, 2026.