Kokomo approves downtown outdoor drinking area
Residents and visitors of Kokomo 21-years-old and older will likely be able to carry alcoholic drinks outside around downtown Kokomo sometime in the future.
The Kokomo City Council Monday unanimously approved on second and final reading an ordinance establishing a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA, in and around downtown Kokomo.
Before it takes effect, though, it must be approved by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
Wes Reed, director of development for the city, said Monday the city plans on submitting its application to the Commission as soon as possible. When the ATC will consider the city’s application is not yet clear.
City officials expect the ATC to approve the DORA application as the city consulted the state agency on how best to write the ordinance.
The city’s proposed DORA district would allow patrons of downtown bars and restaurants to purchase alcoholic beverages at approved businesses and then carry them outside within the DORA’s boundaries.
Beverages could also be taken into retailers that permit DORA beverages in their business.
The DORA has been touted by city officials as a tool to promote economic development and increase foot traffic in the city’s downtown.
The boundaries for Kokomo’s proposed DORA generally follow from Kokomo Municipal Stadium to the southeast, the riverwalk concert venue and The Foxes Trail to the south, Foster Park to the southwest and then north through the heart of downtown to Sun King Kokomo, Oscar’s Pizza and other North Buckeye Street businesses.
Dora District boundries.jpg
Kokomo’s DORA, if approved by the Commission, will be in effect 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. seven days a week, 365 days a year.
A seasonal DORA will encompass Foster Park and will be operational during the same hours from May 1 through Sept. 30.
So far, four downtown businesses have applied to be designated permittees and be able to serve DORA beverages. They include The Coterie, 107 W. Sycamore St.; Sun King Kokomo, 500 N. Buckeye St.; Oscar’s Pizza, 515 N. Buckeye; and Whyte Horse Winery & Bistro, 223 N. Main St.
Open container alcohol that may be consumed in the DORA must be in non-breakable containers such as plastic bottles, plastic cups, cans or paper cups and include a DORA logo on them.
One exception is a permitee’s outdoor seating area. A glass container is allowed there, but it can’t be carried out of the seating area.
Businesses will have to purchase the cups from their own chosen manufacturer; the logo will be provided by the city.
People in the DORA district are allowed to leave a designated permittee’s business with no more than two open alcoholic beverages.
Cups for beer or flavored malt beverages are capped at 16 ounces; wine, cider or premixed cocktails to 12 ounces; and liquor or a liquor-based cocktail up to two ounces of liquor and 10 ounces of chaser.
Alcohol purchased outside the DORA district may not be consumed outside in public areas of the DORA.
Other states and cities across the country, such as Cincinnati, have implemented DORAs. The concept is new for Indiana, though.
The General Assembly last year passed legislation allowing cities and towns to establish their own DORA. So far, several municipalities have done so, including Fort Wayne, Logansport, Warsaw and more.
