Browsing mall shops with a glass of wine in hand? NC might soon allow that

Senate Bill 344, which is expected to be heard Tuesday on the Senate floor, came at the request of The Streets at Southpoint mall in Durham as a matter of fairness, said bill sponsor Sen. Mike Woodard, D-Durham.

Southpoint and other malls have started holding special events outdoors with food and beer trucks to boost customer traffic. But Woodard said state law prohibits restaurants in the mall from taking part.

"Alcohol is served from trucks with taps, and tables [are] set up in the alleyways along the Main Street area. Current law does not allow the restaurants along this Main Street area to serve beverages during these events," he said. "These resident businesses are closed out from sales."

The bill would allow a mall to apply for an annual common area permit from the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, but the permit wouldn't be restricted to special events.

The pemit would allow people to walk around with drinks in a clearly marked section of a mall, inside or outside. It would be up to mall managers to limit how often that happens – or not to limit it at all.

Some social conservatives, including Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, are opposed to the idea.

Creech said 30 percent of Americans choose not to drink alcohol, but the trend is to privilege those who do.

"There's hardly a place that anyone can go now where people aren't either confronted with alcohol sales or alcohol use and abuse," he told members of the Senate Rules committee on Monday.

Even if the bill clears the Senate on Tuesday, it's unclear whether it will become law this year, as it still needs to go through the House and the 2019 legislative session is winding down.