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SALEM -- The economic development committee discussed a request to implement a second Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in a meeting last week.
Councilman and Economic Development Committee Chairman Jake Gano said the request was to establish a second DORA which would encompass the area along State Street (state Route 14) from near the plaza containing Aldi, Marcs and Oasis Golf Bar & Grille through the Salem Plaza containing the Salem Twin Cinema and True Value Hardware. While the city already has a DORA in place covering most of the downtown area which allows residents to buy alcohol from a participating bar or restaurant in a designated cup and freely walk around with it within the boundaries of the DORA, a municipality can establish more based on its size.
Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dicky said that the city had received interest from businesses in the area to create outdoor dining spaces, and that without a DORA in the area businesses would be required to fence in these dining areas and obtain a special license for them, drastically increasing the cost to do so. Dickey also said that an additional DORA in the area could help to attract larger businesses which otherwise have not moved into the city, noting that a significant amount of potential revenue leaves the city when residents travel to surrounding communities seeking those larger restaurants, citing the Texas Roadhouse in Alliance as an example.
Gano said he was concerned about implementing a DORA in the area due to a lack of walkability, and potential safety issues walking in the proposed area.
"It's not an overly walkable area, it's all parking lots and a state route there, so I think we want to think about that before we take any action," said Gano.
Councilman Evan Newman echoed Gano's comments, saying he was "concerned primarily with safety," and felt that if an area was not safely walkable, he would be against implementing a DORA. Newman also said that he would not personally feel safe crossing the road on foot "with or without alcohol."
Councilwoman Sara Baer cited concerns with how people would be prevented from walking between businesses with purchased alcohol, and Dickey said that businesses would likely designate a section of the parking lot for any alcohol purchase to remain within. Baer also argued that a DORA in the area would not be a good fit for its intended purpose as a development tool as the area "does not currently have those types of restaurants, and certainly it does not have the types of retail that had been curated into the downtown."
"DORA to me is a way to cultivate a certain type of culture and consumer and level of retail and restaurant experience in a designated area and I'm just not seeing that on the east end of town," said Baer.
It was ultimately decided more discussion of the request at the committee level was needed before forwarding it to city council for review.
"We'll take no action at this point until we discuss it further. I think there's a few things I want to do a little bit more research on and present it at our next meeting. Just to make sure that we have all our facts and data, and we can discuss it again and go from there," said Gano.
mahart@mojonews.com