Could closing food carts earlier make Glenwood South safer? Raleigh’s looking into it.

Could closing food carts earlier make Glenwood South safer? How about limiting parking along Glenwood Avenue?

Those are two of six ideas Raleigh is considering for one of downtown’s hottest spots for bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

After a multi-person brawl involving police officers in Glenwood South last summer, city leaders asked for a report on how to make entertainment areas like Glenwood South and Fayetteville Street safer. Glenwood South has seen two shootings and two women charged with groping a transgender patron at a bar so far this year.

Derrick Remer, Raleigh’s emergency management and special events manager, presented suggestions to the City Council Tuesday afternoon.

Calls to 911 have remained steady throughout downtown with about 3,500 calls per year, according to his report. The Raleigh Police Department also has a hospitality squad that focuses on “quality of life” violations like drug and alcohol violations, fights, indecent exposure and public urination, according to Donna-maria Harris, the department’s spokesperson. Many are self-initiated by the police, meaning no one calls 911, according to Remer’s report.

Of the 132 guns that police officers confiscated downtown in 2018, 57 were seized in Glenwood South.

“There is no easy solution,” Remer said. “These are topics and with any one there is going to be a commitment to resources. There are going to be impacts whether to business owners and citizens. So we want to make sure we are mindful of those as we move forward.”

The City Council gave staff members the nod to continue looking at the suggestions as they bring back formal recommendations in the future.

Here’s a look at the six ideas:

• Restrict parking: The city wants to clear the district as quickly and safely as possible after closing time, Remer said. It could limit parking on Glenwood Avenue to open two lanes of travel, but that could push people to park in nearby neighborhoods, he said. Some workers in that district might rely on free parking while they work, he added.

• Roll back food-cart hours: Food carts are able to continue serving after bars and restaurants are required to close. If food carts had to stop serving at 2 a.m. versus 4 a.m., Remer said it would reduce crowds gathering on sidewalks around the only food options available. “We want to keep that pedestrian flow moving,” he said, but it’s also some of the busiest times for food cart vendors.

• Streamline the city’s amplified entertainment permit process: If a bar or club wants to offer music through speakers or another electronic system, it has to get an amplified entertainment permit. There have been delays with businesses seeking those permits, Remer said, with one business operating for a year without the proper permits. The current process is “fragmented” and spread across many city departments, Remer said. One department overseeing the process could lead to “regular verification” of compliance, he said.

• Maximize sidewalks: Unlike in other stretches of downtown Raleigh, the sidewalks on Glenwood Avenue are narrow and unevenly paved. This can create bottlenecks with large groups of pedestrians that impede the flow of traffic.

• Partner more with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance: The alliance already provides several services to the downtown area including its Ambassador program, where people will walk visitors to their vehicles and call police if there is an emergency. The city could strengthen its relationship and communication with the alliance to address concerns before they turn into problems.

• Create a multi-departmental working group: This would help make sure nothing falls through the cracks and enforcement of the city’s rules, Remer said.