Columbus City Councilman Nick Bankston will hold a public meeting about the city’s proposed Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA, at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Land Grant Brewing Company.
“I think the biggest question that folks will ask tomorrow is when can they get their cup,” Bankston joked.
A DORA is a defined area that has exceptions to open container laws.
The Center City DORA would include much of downtown west of Fourth Street from Nationwide Boulevard to Mound and Main streets. It would also stretch onto the Scioto Peninsula and into East Franklinton.
“It is not just simply about downtown, but it's also about, our adjacent neighborhoods as well,” Bankston said.
People could take alcohol outside in designated cups between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m.
"With the DORA, you could get a drink to go, walk across the Broad Street Bridge, and by the time you finish it, you're at the Junto and your night can continue,” said Amy Taylor, president of Downtown Columbus, Inc.
Columbus already has one DORA that runs mostly along Nationwide Boulevard in the Arena District. That DORA is in effect anytime there is a game or event at Nationwide Arena, Huntington Park and Lower.com Field, from three hours before the event until midnight.
“The hope is that, you know, it encourages folks to stick around downtown after work."Columbus Councilman Nick Bankston
Bankston and Taylor said a downtown DORA would boost business there.
“The hope is that, you know, it encourages folks to stick around downtown after work,” Bankston said.
DORA cups would only come from participating bars, he said. Those taking alcohol outside would have to stay within the DORA boundaries and the correct times.
While 11 a.m. may seem early for some, Taylor said the hours would be standard and would encompass weekend brunch. The hours also align with times when there is already security downtown, she said.
The idea for the DORA came from the city’s 2022 downtown strategic plan.
“People actually specifically mentioned that they really thought that downtown would benefit from having a DORA district,” Taylor said.
She said about 84% of people surveyed said they thought a DORA would benefit downtown and extend their stay there.
Bankston said he thinks the DORA will also make Columbus competitive with nearby communities that already have refreshment areas, like Hilliard, where a DORA, including a dozen restaurants and bars, runs from noon to 9 p.m.
After Wednesday’s public meeting, city council will have to vote on the DORA application. It then goes to the state for final approval. The DORA would have to be re-approved every five years, Taylor said.
