New Mecklenburg Proclamation Sets Alcohol Sales Curfew

CHARLOTTE, NC — Last call will come earlier than normal throughout Mecklenburg County. In a bid to curb growing crowds and the spread of COVID-19 throughout the community, the county has enacted a new 11 p.m. curfew for alcohol sales, officials announced Wednesday.

Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte, along with the towns of Davidson, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville signed the proclamation that requires restaurants and private clubs serving food and alcohol to close on site beverage consumption from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The Towns of Cornelius and Huntersville have not signed on to the plan, Dena Diorio, Mecklenburg County manager, said during a news conference Wednesday.

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The new restrictions, which go into effect Thursday, July 23, only apply to restaurants that serve alcohol. Violations may be prosecuted as a Class 2 misdemeanor. Restaurants may continue to offer drive-thru, delivery and pick-up services during those hours.

Businesses selling alcohol, such as wine shops, breweries, private clubs and restaurants, are now also required to shut down all on-site alcohol sales between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The new ordinance will remain in place until Aug. 7, the same day Gov. Roy Cooper's Phase 2 executive order is set to expire.

"This revised proclamation is designed to put a stop to the behaviors we have seen in recent weeks where we have seen videos of establishments where patrons are not wearing masks and social distancing has been nonexistent," Diorio said. "It is unfortunate that we must take these steps due to the poor decisions by some bad actors," she said.

"We hope by taking these steps, we can begin to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the community," Diorio said.

As of Wednesday, at least 186 Mecklenburg County residents have died from COVID-19, as the county confirmed 17,782 cases, Raynard Washington, deputy public health director for Mecklenburg County, said. The percentage of positive tests in the county has remained stable, "which is good news," however remains around 11 percent, he said.

"We would really like to see that number start to decline a bit, but we are excited that its remaining stable and not accelerating," Washington said.

While public health officials attempt to conduct contact tracing for all new cases, the county does not have a strong estimate for how many new cases stem from the behaviors at area restaurants and gatherings, he said.

"The simple message is, we know that wearing a mask works. We know that keeping distance works. We really just needed everybody to comply and to take on personal responsibility so that we don't have to do things like this," he said.