Hillsboro City Council approves Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area ordinance

After nearly a year of planning, Hillsboro City Council voted — in a split decision — to approve an ordinance creating a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in uptown Hillsboro during their Thursday, June 15 meeting.

The ordinance narrowly passed, by a 4-3 margin. Council members Jason Brown, Greg Maurer, Mary Stanforth and Adam Wilkin voted in favor of the ordinance, with Dan Baucher, Jo Sanborn and Don Storer voting no.

The vote came after close to a year of discussion, as the DORA topic has been in the street and safety committee since July 2022.

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, “Per R.C. 4301.82, a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area or ‘DORA’ (aka Outdoor Refreshment Area or ‘ORA’) is nothing more than a specified area of land that a local legislative authority has designated as exempt from certain open container provisions as defined within the legislative act that created the DORA.

“Thus, patrons within a DORA that purchase an alcoholic beverage for on-premises consumption from a DORA designated liquor permit holder can leave the permit premises with an opened alcoholic beverage container and continue consuming it within the DORA.”

Hillsboro will join other area municipalities, including Greenfield, Chillicothe, Washington Court House and Wilmington, that have a DORA.

Wilkin, who is the chair of the street and safety committee, told council last August that the matter was placed in his committee by city administration as a suggestion “to promote the walkability of our city,” particularly the uptown area.

Following a joint meeting between the street and safety and the community enhancement committees in September, the city posted a survey seeking public input as well as a video and other information explaining the proposal.

The street and safety committee voted Nov. 29 to recommend the city begin the application process through the state, Wilkin reported.

Council received the application from administration and heard the first reading of legislation for the possible DORA at their April meeting. At that meeting, council heard from individuals in the community listing various reasons for supporting or opposing the proposal.  

Not only were the citizens almost evenly divided — nine comments were against the DORA, seven were in favor of it — but later in the meeting, council was also divided on the question of whether to hold a public hearing for further debate. After a tie-breaking vote by council president Tom Eichinger, it was determined not to hold a hearing.

As proposed, the hours of the DORA are Thursday through Saturday from 3-10 p.m. The total area is “approximately 24 acres in size,” including 100-139 North High Street; 100-139 South High Street; 101-160 West Main Street; 108-122 and 226 East Main Street; 235-237 West Beech Street; 118 South West Street; 126 and 108 Governor Trimble Place; and 107-119 Governor Foraker Place.

The application includes a list of boundaries for the area; a public health and safety plan; a list of qualified permit holders (currently the FOE Aerie 1161 and Hillsboro Orpheum); a sanitation plan; and other requirements. Also included is a picture of the proposed cups for the district, which list the rules for the district on the back.

At the April meeting, Highland County Economic Development Director Julie Bolender also shared statistics regarding other DORAs in the state and the impact on those communities, at Hillsboro Mayor Justin Harsha’s invitation. She said she collected this data through “interviews, phone calls and emails.”

Bolender said that the regulations for a DORA include “a comprehensive list of do's and don'ts.” That includes business participation (up to each individual business, with the Division of Liquor Control overseeing DORA permits); the containers used (they have to be plastic cups with the DORA logo); and where the beverages can be consumed (only within the boundary, and no outside beverages are permitted).

The feedback Bolender collected was largely positive, with little to no negative impact on crime or sanitation, while areas such as Washington Court House, Kent, Montgomery County and Springfield said that there was an increase in foot traffic to businesses in the designated area.

“Of the communities I surveyed, communication and education were the most important aspects of a successful DORA,” Bolender said in April. “City government and the Hillsboro Police Department must work together to ensure business owners, citizens and visitors are educated regarding the rules and regulations of a DORA, should you choose to adopt legislation.”

There was no discussion of the proposal from citizens or city officials at council’s May meeting, nor at their June meeting, aside from the vote from council.

In other uptown Hillsboro news, Harsha and Safety and Service Director Brianne Abbott discussed several upcoming events, as well as the uptown flowers, during their respective reports.

In his report to council, Harsha reviewed the upcoming schedule for the city’s Movies Under the Stars program, which will be held this summer at the Crossroads Park on West Main Street. Movies, which will be shown at dusk, include:

• June 23, “Jurassic World Dominion,” featuring Poppy’s Hot Dogs;

• June 30, “The Bad Guys,” featuring Kona Ice;

• July 21, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” featuring Kona Ice; and

• July 28, “Lightyear,” featuring Poppy’s Hot Dogs.

Harsha also thanked the event sponsors, including: Brody and Savannah Smith, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Seal-Tite, Highland District Hospital, Xtreme Clean, Sherri Michael LMT, Brittany Couser of Boyer Territory and Craig’s Custom Services LTD.

“With these funds, we are able to buy the licensing for the movies and also purchase the movies to show,” Harsha said.

Along with the Movies Under the Stars program, Abbott said the Hillsboro Farmers Market is “off to a great start.”

As mentioned, Harsha also discussed the flowers throughout uptown Hillsboro. As previously reported, large cedar planters, which were constructed by Hillsboro High School industrial tech teacher Josh Pohlman’s classes, have been installed on South High Street, West Main Street and East Main Street.

The planters were an idea of late Hillsboro businessman John “Buck” Wilkin, with Wilkin’s daughter, Jennifer Howland, and fellow volunteer Alice Wilson helping make the dream come to life. They are also continuing to plant and maintain other flowers, such as hanging baskets, all around the historic uptown district.

“I did get a call from Buck Wilkin when he was in the hospital before he passed, and he wanted to make sure that everybody’s happy with the planters that were planned for uptown,” Harsha said. “They came in this spring, and they’re beautiful. Now we have a place for the flowers to be planted up above the ground, and so we're really happy about that.

“I just wanted to give a really big thanks to Buck Wilkin and all he's done for the City of Hillsboro.”

Abbott briefly discussed funding obtained by the city in recent weeks during her report.

“The city was fortunate enough to receive a couple of grants over the last month,” Abbott said.

Those include a $1.44 million Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation for the construction of the Rails to Trails Community Trail in 2026. The project will create a walking and bicycling trail on the abandoned railroad bed and a sidewalk on West Main Street between the trailhead and Taylor Court. The city also received $10,000 from the Ohio EPA to be used for a water meter project.

In economic development news, Abbott said there  were “38 commercial building permits and 11 residential” issued in May, while the city is working with several businesses in various stages of development, including a Marriott Hotel, Marshall’s department store, Papa John’s, Patriot Public House and Sassafras Kitchen.

Abbott asked the street and safety committee to review “safety and security of city parks,” while she also noted the city has also had several groups working to help out at the parks.

“I’d like to thank all the volunteers that the city has had over the last few months between cleanup and painting at the parks,” she said. “A lot of people have stepped up and really helped the city out, so we’re very appreciative.”

In his first council meeting as city auditor, new appointee Dawson Barreras gave a brief report to council.

As previously reported, Barreras was appointed by Harsha, and later by the Hillsboro representatives of the Highland County Republican Central Committee, to replace former auditor Patty Day, who resigned. He took office June 5.

“The books are not closed as of today, but they will be closed tomorrow, and you guys will all be presented with accurate financial reports,” Barreras told council.

The auditor added that he is working with city department heads to prepare for an upcoming tax budget hearing. He invited the council members to contact him “anytime” with questions.

In other reports:

• Wilkin said that due to last-minute scheduling conflicts, his committee’s planned meeting to discuss a proposal to convert Johnson Street to a one-way street was canceled. He will be working with the resident who made the suggestion, Brian Waller, to come up with a new meeting date, Wilkin told council.

• Brown reported that on May 18, the zoning and annexation committee met to discuss sign code changes, which have been finalized by the Hillsboro Planning Commission. They voted 3-0 to recommend the changes to council, he said.

The committee also has a joint meeting with the Planning Commission scheduled for June 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the old firehouse to discuss zoning map amendments.

• Sanborn discussed the community enhancement committee’s May 15 meeting. As previously reported, the committee recommended the acceptance of a bid from Howland Asphalt for resurfacing the tennis and basketball courts at the Railroad Street Park. The committee also recommended legislation moving $55,000 from the Contingency Fund to the Recreation fund to pay for the work.

Council held a special meeting May 18 to approve both items of legislation.

Check back to highlandcountypress.com for more from Thursday’s meeting. To read about the citizens’ comments position of the meeting, see the story at: https://highlandcountypress.com/hillsboro-pride-event-liberty-park-prom….