Granville council overwhelmingly rejects outdoor drinking proposal
After nearly two hours of public comments, Granville Village Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would have allowed people to consume alcohol while walking around parts of downtown.
All the council members but one — Aaron Olbur, who originally brought forward the concept — voted against the proposed Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA, within which patrons 21 and older could have bought alcoholic beverages from licensed businesses and carried their drinks within the DORA boundaries during set times and dates.
Residents packed the village council chambers Wednesday, and there was often a line to speak. Of the roughly 20 people who shared their opinion with council members, nearly two-thirds were against the DORA.
They cited concerns about safety, excess trash, parking, increased expenses for the village, underage drinking, the effect on young children and families, the impact on recovering alcoholics and more.
A sentiment expressed by 28-year Granville resident Kristi Pfau — and echoed by others — was that the DORA "would seriously undermine the quaintness of our Granville village community" and would make "downtown a non-inclusive space."
"I've never experienced such a unified agreement on any proposal in Granville than I have for the argument against the DORA," Pfau said. "I'm talking about any age, any stage, any political affiliation, any ideals that people hold. It would be a striking departure from what we know and we love as long-standing village residents."
Generally, the DORA area would have included the north and south sides of East Broadway, between Linden Place and North Prospect Street, and North Prospect, between East Broadway and East College Street.
The legislation would have allowed the DORA to be in effect from noon to 8 p.m., but no set dates were included. It would have taken additional resolutions from village council to set dates for DORA events.
Several speakers said if a DORA were in place, they would avoid the village's downtown businesses and restaurants when it was in effect.
Resident Sam Sagaria was one of them. He said he moved to Granville after living in Columbus for 35 years because he wanted to escape Columbus.
"I prefer Granville. I don't want to go out and experience the Short North," he said, referencing the Columbus neighborhood that has numerous bars and restaurants.
Owners of businesses inside the proposed DORA boundary, including Brigette Short of Village Coffee Co. and Elizabeth Stutzman of Green Velvet, said they wouldn't allow patrons to carry alcohol into their shops if the proposed DORA was approved.
Stutzman said she currently allows food and beverages inside her store, which has been in the village for 20 years. But if they DORA was established, she would not allow food or drinks of any kind inside.
"I think adding alcohol, it's just not a great idea; and I don't think it's necessary for Granville to remain as lovely, wonderful as it is," she said. "I'm grateful to be here. I love my store. I love the community. I love our customers. I just don't feel this is a plus at all to Granville."
Trent Beers, owner of The Lot Beer Co. and Seek-No-Further Cidery, said one of the main benefits of a DORA is that it would have made it easier for bars and restaurants to host community events, such as a fall festival that would be a family-friendly event or partnering with Three Tigers Brewing Co. to host live music on North Prospect Street.
Beers said the cidery, which wasn't included in the DORA, has become a community staple since opening in 2021. It hosts Granville Running Club weekly meetups, features local bakers and holds small-scale events.
"What we're doing there is creating community. We'd just like to do that on a slightly larger scale," he said.
Council member Rob Montgomery said three years ago the village didn't allow alcohol in the public right of way, but the state relaxed the rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and the village started temporarily allowing outdoor cafés along East Broadway. But with that now being a permanent law from state, that's grown and nearly every establishment within the proposed DORA boundary has an outdoor café.
"I think that we're not anti-bars because the bars can serve alcohol inside and out. It's just that you can't have all of the public right of way," he said.
While other communities in Ohio, including Newark, have DORAs in place, Mayor Melissa Hartfield said Granville has always been a community that does it's own thing.
"We're who we are, and people are attracted to that because we don't follow the leader. We are the leader," she said.
mdevito@gannett.com
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Twitter: @MariaDeVito13
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Granville council overwhelmingly rejects outdoor drinking proposal
