POWELL — Downtown drinkers, rejoice: Powell City Council voted to expand the downtown Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area’s days and hours.
DORA’s previous schedule allowed for downtown, outdoor drinking from Thursdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Now, effective immediately, DORA will operate a full Monday–Sunday week from 11 a.m. to midnight — although Economic Development Director Sean Hughes noted there are no businesses that currently stay open that late.
“Well, not right now, but we hope that changes,” he added. “This would be in an anticipation of a changing market.”
DORA allows patrons aged 21 and older to purchase alcoholic beverages from participating bars or restaurants and carry them openly while walking outdoors within the district’s boundaries.
“I think DORA just brings more energy to places. Every city I’ve seen, it’s been positive,” Councilman David Lester said.
The current DORA covers approximately 136.3 contiguous acres, spanning from the Big Hearts, Little Hands Childcare Learning Center, to the end of Village Green and Murphy Parkway.
Any business that has an existing liquor license is eligible to serve DORA beverages — they just need to provide the plastic cups with DORA stickers on them.
In a memo to council, City Manager Andy White noted downtown Powell receives over 900,000 visitors annually, with peak visitation occurring Thursday through Saturday between 6-8 p.m.
There was no data on DORA sales, but Hughes said businesses have noted especially high sales during big events, such as Powell Fest.
“As far as I understand, the businesses do go through a lot of plastic cups,” he said.
“I’ll tell you, Powell Festival alone, two of our newer businesses, they went through lots of plastic. They went out and got red Solo cups and stuck the labels on them.”
The memo also noted since DORA was implemented in 2019, the Powell Police Department has only had a few issues related to its operation.
Other business
- Council cancelled its July 7 meeting, which means the Development Committee meeting is also cancelled.
- City Manager Andy White announced staff created a fourth Village Green open house in response to residents’ complaints about not being able to attend the daytime sessions. That fourth and final session is May 27 at Powell City Hall from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
