Council to consider ordinance allowing customers to buy alcoholic drinks downtown and carry them in designated area

The community may soon be able to buy alcoholic drinks downtown and carry them around as they peruse a designated area.

Columbus City Council members on Tuesday night will consider the first reading of an ordinance to establish a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in the city’s downtown, to be known as the Downtown Columbus Social District, identified by the boundaries above.

The move is meant as a way to support the revitalization and economic redevelopment of the historic downtown and its commercial core, according to the ordinance. Ordinances must be passed on two readings to be approved. The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers.

Starting in July of 2023, state law has given municipalities the ability to create DORAs, where those 21 and older can buy alcoholic beverages from approved vendors and retail establishments and carry them outside to be consumed within the DORA boundaries.

Establishments who want to become a designated permittee and be granted a refreshment area designation would have to submit an application to the city for approval and receive a recommendation by the board of works, per the ordinance.

The boundaries of the DORA will be designated with signs and spots that take part in the Downtown Columbus Social District will have “a window cling” displayed near their entrance.

The city’s Board of Public Works and Safety has the authority for designating the boundaries of the DORA.

The Downtown Columbus Social District would be operational seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m., according to the ordinance.

Some general rules of the DORA, outlined in the ordinance are:

• A person can consume an alcoholic beverage from a designated permittee or vendor anywhere within the refreshment area boundaries, subject to the right of any retailer permittee or business within the refreshment area to refuse to allow people to enter their premises with an alcoholic beverage.
• All designated permittees and vendors may allow a person to exit the designated permittee’s or vendor’s licensed premises with not more than two open containers of an alcoholic beverage at a time.
• A person may not consume an alcoholic beverage within the refreshment area that was purchased outside the refreshment area.
• Alcoholic beverages must be contained in a designated Downtown Columbus Social District Cup or an approved container affixed with a Downtown Columbus Social District decal.
• Glass containers may only be allowed in a designated permittee’s outdoor dining area and may not be removed into the Downtown Columbus Social District.

The following retailer permittees have submitted a complete application to the city to participate as a designated permittee:

• Zwanzig’s Pizza, 1038 Lafayette Ave.
• Thai Connection, 527 Washington St.
• Henry Social Club, 423 Washington St.
• Swine & Dine, 412 Washington St.
• 4th Street Bar & Grill, 433 Fourth St.
• Black Sheep Pizza, 318 Washington St.
• The Columbus Bar, 322 Fourth St.
• Taku Japanese Steakhouse, 305 Fourth St.
• The Garage Pub, 308 Fourth St.
• Upland Pumphouse, 148 Lindsey St.

Those that hold a temporary beer or wine permit, a supplemental catering permit, or a craft manufacturer’s permit that want to be designated as a vendor and granted a temporary vendor designation to participate in a special event or festival held within the refreshment area can submit a special event permit application and state DORA designation form on each occasion. Those would then be weighed for approval by the board of works as well. Approved vendors can be at any of the locations on the ‘Temporary Vendor Map’ which accompanies this story.

During a meeting of the Commons Board back in April, board member Tracy Souza said the Office of Downtown Development had been pursuing a recommendation to establish a DORA downtown.

City Council liaison to the Commons Board Grace Kestler, D-at-large, said at the time that the establishment of a DORA is “perceived highly by the city council.”

If and when the ordinance is passed, it would then need to be approved by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.