The public will get another chance to comment and ask questions about Main Street Mount Vernon’s plans for a Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) that would let adult residents at approved events walk around with a cup of beer or wine in hand.
A public hearing will be held at Mount Vernon City Council's Sept. 13 meeting, which begins its legislative session at 7:30 p.m.
Downtown merchants, restaurants, bars and breweries can choose whether they want to participate in the DORA, Main Street Mount Vernon’s Anthony McNeal said. said. Several establishments with the correct alcoholic beverage licensing that plan to participate include The Alcove Restaurant & Lounge, Flappers Bar and Grille, Happy Street Bru-Werks, Honeybuckets Tavern, Moss Rose, Mount Vernon Brewing, Stein Brewing and the Eagles and the Elks lodges.
The DORA boundaries include most of downtown south of East Chestnut Street to the Kokosing River and between South Gay and South Mechanic streets. The Living Center property has been “carved out” of the boundaries, he said.
DORA is good for the city’s downtown in several ways, McNeal said. As the organization’s downtown manager, he heads its efforts to establish the program. The first benefit would be increased foot traffic to restaurants and bars.
“Properly licensed establishments will be able to increase their turnover rate, offering door beverages to event attendees who are not taking up valuable seating,” he said.
That’s especially true in winter months when people are going out a bit more to enjoy dinner out, McNeal said.
Retail sales should pick up also, he said.
As downtown visitors – aged 21 or older – get their beer or wine in DORA cups, they can walk around the event boundaries. They may walk by a retail store several times.
“Which, the more time that you walk past the store, the more likely of a chance that you go into that store, that you notice something interesting that you want from that store,” he said.
That increases the connection visitors have to the downtown merchants. From the merchants’ perspective, more opportunities are created for visitors to spend more at their stores.
In Ohio, 92 other cities either have a DORA initiative in place or in progress. With a relatively small number of cities setting up a DORA, McNeal said that would make Mount Vernon’s downtown experience unique.
DORA events will support local substance abuse prevention measures. McNeal said $1 of every DORA beverage sale will go to drug and alcohol abuse prevention measures. The Main Street Mount Vernon DORA committee will work with the Knox Substance Abuse Action Team. Some members of that group have been part of the DORA committee from its start.
“The last thing that we want the community to think is that we're just trying to have alcoholic parties in the street,” McNeal said.
If the DORA initiative is approved by the City Council, he said, downtown visitors won’t be able to just walk out of a brewery or restaurant with beer or wine in hand. That permission will remain event-based.
He’s visited 14 DORA communities and said he saw no major issues. Downtown Toledo had a litter issue, but it is more spaced out. Main Street Mount Vernon has taken steps to address that issue before the DORA initiative has been established, he said.
Main Street Mount Vernon would provide every business within the main DORA boundaries with two signs. One would designate a business as open to DORA beverages, with the other asking visitors with beverages not to bring them into their business. In addition, signs will mark out the boundaries of individual DORA events.
An organization wanting to hold a DORA event would need to apply first with the Main Street Mount Vernon DORA committee. Initially plans were for DORA events from April 1 through Oct. 31.
“But we're trying to alleviate some of the COVID stress and COVID spacing issues over this winter. We've asked council to make it so that DORA events available year-round,” McNeal said.
Events organizers will have to apply for specific event boundaries. They will almost never take up the full DORA boundary, he said.
The DORA group would next consult with the Police and Fire departments and city officials. These city departments and city administration have been represented on the DORA committee also.
If the City Council approves the downtown DORA plans, that information will be forwarded to the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control. Eligible establishments within the DORA boundaries would receive updated licenses enabling them to participate in DORA events.
