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Downtown restaurant group asks Dunedin to allow open-container district and revive monthly street event
Summary
A coalition of downtown restaurants, bars and breweries asked the commission to permit a branded cup open‑container hospitality district and to help clear permitting for a monthly '2nd Friday' Main Street event; staff agreed to research models and workshop the idea with merchants.
A coalition of downtown restaurant and bar owners told the Dunedin City Commission July 9 they want to partner with the city to revive downtown and create a recurring non‑property tax revenue stream.
"We want to partner with you," Jason Seibert, speaking for a group of downtown operators, said as he read a letter proposing two measures: a branded‑cup open‑container hospitality district modeled on Largo’s program and a monthly, street‑closure entertainment night called 2nd Friday. Seibert said licensed establishments inside a defined downtown district would use city‑approved shatterproof cups, register with the city and follow rules limiting how many drinks a patron may carry.
Seibert said the open‑container model would allow the city to sell branded cups and retain a small recurring revenue stream tied to cup sales, while operators would help draft code changes, run a merchant registry and fund materials. He suggested the program could proceed under the city’s existing special‑event permit authority or via a targeted code amendment to section 6‑33 for a downtown exception.
City Manager recommended staff research existing programs in Largo, Gainesville and Tampa and workshop the proposal with merchants before returning to the commission for policy direction. Commissioners welcomed the initiative and asked staff to follow up with a report.
