Joliet this week finalized rules on what can and cannot be done in the new City Square, including a ban on liquor except when it’s allowed.

Drinking liquor downtown will be allowed more openly under a pilot program that starts June 1 and ends Dec. 31 with the city reserving the right to end the program at any time if needed.

Drinking outside those guidelines will be prohibited, including in the City Square.

The rules were approved unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday.

Chicago Street restaurants encouraged approval of the new “social district,” which allows for open drinking, as an improvement in the downtown business environment.

“The social district, I think, would be a great thing to add downtown,” Marzell Richardson III, owner of Richardson’s restaurant, told the council.

Rules on alcohol

His restaurant will be among those allowed to sell drinks-to-go in city-approved cups that include the name of the restaurant from which the drink came and the date and time when it was poured.

Businesses providing alcohol are limited to those with a full kitchen that get 40% or less of their revenue from liquor sales “ensuring the program complements the city’s goals for family-friendly downtown activity,” according to a staff memo on the program.

The social district and the restaurants allowed to participate will be along Chicago Street between Jefferson and Cass streets.

Jefferson and Cass streets also serve as U.S. Route 30 in and out of downtown.

Allowing open drinking to cross those routes would require state approval.

Deputy City Attorney Stephanie Silkey said state approval was unlikely and staff did not consider it worth pursuing.

Silkey said the city will post banners to clearly mark the boundaries where open-air drinking is allowed.

“We want to be very clear where the social district starts and ends,” Silkey said.

Hours for the social district will be 4 to 10 p.m. between May 1 and Sept. 30 and 4 to 9 p.m. between Oct. 1 and April 30.

Silkey also outlined rules for City Square, which were approved by the City Council.

Alcohol is prohibited unless it is in the city-approved cup that makes the Square part of the social district.

Sleeping, skateboards and dogs

The rules also include a “limited” ban on begging and panhandling.

Court decisions bar the city from banning panhandling.

City Attorney Todd Lenzie said the City Square limit is aimed at barring aggressive and threatening behavior.

“It’s not correct to say we’re banning panhandling,” Lenzie said. “We’re banning harassing conduct that can come with panhandling.”

The city rules also bans sleeping in the City Square.

They also set hours when the square is open to the public.

The square will be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from May 1 through Sept. 30. It will be open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Oct. 1 through April 30.

Extended hours will be allowed for city-sponsored events and permitted events.

The rules also prohibit dogs and other animals from the square.

The surface of the square is artificial turf, which is not dog-friendly. But is is expected endure better than natural grass with the wear and tear of a continuous stream of human visitors that the city expects.

Other rules include a ban on skateboards and rollerblades, permit guidelines for events, no grilling although picnics up to 25 people are allowed without a permit.

The City Square ordinance is 16 pages long detailing other restrictions.

Silkey said staff looked at rules used in similar public areas outside Joliet and the City Square rules are “in line with similar ordinances in surrounding communities.”