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Planning committee schedules DORA public hearing for June 1, considers West Side expansion
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Summary
The Planning & Development committee set a public hearing for the city’s five-year DORA review for Monday, June 1, and discussed a proposed footprint expansion to include the West Side Cider House and nearby businesses; the police chief reported no incidents since DORA began and city staff will verify acreage limits under the Ohio Revised Code.
The Athens City Council Planning & Development committee agreed to schedule a public hearing for Monday, June 1, to fulfill a five-year review required by the Ohio Revised Code of the city’s DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) and to consider a request to expand the DORA footprint to parts of the West Side.
Committee members said they had checked with law enforcement and businesses: the committee read a written response attributed to Athens Police Chief Nick McGruder stating that since the DORA began the department "has not had a single issue," and committee members described the DORA’s summer operation as “highly successful.”
The proposed expansion shown on a map would add a contiguous area linking the existing DORA to the West Side Cider House/distillery and a thin connector along Bayard to Union Street. Planning staff cautioned that Ohio Revised Code acreage caps could limit how large a DORA can be; the committee asked city engineer Jared Balderson to calculate exact acreage and report back by Thursday.
The committee also reviewed financial figures related to DORA cup sales, which the chair said totaled $35,764 in revenue and $23,901 in expenses over the cited multi-year period, leaving a net of about $11,862 (the chair said that divides to less than $3,000 per year). The chair and other members said those net proceeds have been used for uptown events and festival expenses.
Members heard public comment in favor of expansion and more DORA dates. Amy Delich, who gave her address as 124 Morris Avenue and identified herself as a Porchfest organizer, said she supports looking at year-round DORA in peer college towns, suggested expanding to include the West Side Cider House and Miller’s Chicken area, and urged use of recyclable aluminum DORA cups rather than plastic.
The committee agreed a single public hearing could cover both the required five-year review and any proposed expansion; it instructed the clerk to publish notice in the paper on Saturday so the hearing could take place on June 1.
