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Bellbrook council reviews draft plan for downtown Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area
Summary
City staff presented a draft Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) covering roughly 48 acres of downtown B4 zoning, explained cup and signage rules and set a public-notice timeline leading to a June 22 resolution and public hearing.
City Manager Rob Burrow told the council the city has drafted a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) application that would overlay the downtown B4 zoning and includes roughly 48 acres of contiguous property. “We’ve got about 48,” Burrow said while describing the area the draft would cover.
Burrow said the application meets the statutory requirement for permit holders and explained operational details staff would include: an identifiable DORA cup no larger than 20 ounces, a public-safety and sanitation plan, and boundary signage. “It has to be a cup no more than 20 ounces and identified as a Dora cup,” Burrow said. He also noted the state-required public notice period — 30 days in a newspaper of general circulation — and that staff would target presenting a draft resolution at the June 22 council meeting.
Council members asked several implementation questions about who would buy or manage the cups, how the DORA would affect special events and whether address listings in GIS were current. Burrow said cities use a mix of approaches — printed cups, stickers or a third-party downtown partnership to manage sales — and that event permits (F permits) would use the same cup requirements when applicable. He said signage could be modest wayfinding signs rather than large permanent markers and that staff can adjust the DORA map before submitting the application if council requests changes.
The council did not vote on the DORA application at the May 11 meeting; Burrow said staff will publish the public notice and return with a draft resolution on June 22 for formal action.
The DORA discussion included details relevant to business owners and event organizers: the overlay follows existing Central Business District (B4) lines, some residential addresses are excluded where there are no businesses, and permit-holder counts already meet the statutory minimum. The council asked staff to verify a split parcel on South Main listed in GIS and to continue coordination with downtown business owners.
