New Philadelphia council members have voted to expand hours of operation to drink out of marked cups in the downtown area.
This is allowed only in the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) during certain hours seven days a week. When it was first voted on the DORA was for just special events.
Monday night, it was a 4 to 2 vote. The action was taken after hearing more public comments, for about 40 minutes, mostly coming from residents opposing expanded hours.
“It is a simple truth, when alcohol consumption rises in the public spaces so too do incidents of violence, vandalism, disorderly conduct, and impaired driving. Allowing open consumption for alcohol in public areas sends the wrong messages to our children, to our teens, to the next generation. It normalizes public drinking.”
Another citizen noted that she lives “so close to where you have those people coming over and walking over to my house, drunk, probably falling down drunk, and I have to take care of them.”
Someone else spoke about needing to take pride in the city’s downtown adding that, “it would be crowded with drunks, partying, people peeing on the streets and buildings, and insidious things that people don’t want to talk about.”
Another opposing resident said “a DORA invites alcohol into our streets, into our parks, and into spaces where families, children, and seniors deserve to feel safe. It replaces community pride with public intoxication, trash, and disorder.”
Supporters have included some from the downtown business community.
Council President Don Kemp noted that talks over the matter have been occurring for roughly six- or seven-months giving council enough information to make a decision.
Cheryl Ramos voted down the measure.
“I urge council to really listen and consider the concerns of the community and all the things that we’ve heard.”
The other no vote came from Tom Simmelink and Michael Walker abstained.
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