The Sylva social district opened for business, just in time for last weekend’s Greening Up the Mountains festival.

The Sylva Social District test period is one step closer to launch following input from a community task force.

After Alderman Anthony Sutton floated the idea near the end of a Jan. 11 meeting, the Town of Waynesville will now take a methodical, deliberate approach to the question of whether or not – and where – social districts could end up being established .

Just six months after Cherokee voters said yes in a referendum election , a liquor store is open on the Qualla Boundary — making the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians the first tribe in the country to have one.

Despite a strong public showing against the proposed social district at Sylva’s town meeting on Thursday, commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the measure.

After a bill allowing cities and counties to create their own social districts passed through the general assembly last September, towns across the state are exploring their options. Sylva is among the latest to do so in Western North Carolina. 

In a historic vote, Cherokee voters said yes to expanded alcohol sales on the Qualla boundary following a Sept. 2 referendum. 

Cherokee voters will decide whether to loosen alcohol regulations on the Qualla Boundary this September by answering three referendum questions Tribal Council approved Wednesday, July 7 . 

A trio of resolutions seeking to put three alcohol-related referendum questions before Cherokee voters this year was withdrawn in Tribal Council Jan. 14 but will likely reappear on the agenda this spring. 

Two years after tribal members voted down a similar referendum, the Tribal Alcohol Beverage Control Commission is seeking to place a trio of questions aimed at legalizing off-casino alcohol sales on an upcoming ballot.