Local businesses, leaders urge residents to show support for DORA

TIFFIN, OH — A meeting is set for Tiffin City Council to decide if they want to further explore the implementation of a DORA (Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) in the city.

The meeting is Wednesday, January 16 at 4pm at City Hall. The meeting is public and residents are welcome to share their opinion on the issue.

Many local businesses and public figures have taken to social media and other means to encourage residents to show up at the meeting, as well as contact their city council members via email, in order to show support for the DORA.

Several other Ohio cities, including Toledo, Worthington, Delaware, and Marysville, have implemented a DORA with no reported problems being a direct result of the implementation.

“Please don’t be fearful of change.  We had a Mayor, after Bernie Hohman and before Mayor Montz who was so terrified of being blamed when something went wrong, that he did nothing, and didn’t allow those in his Administration to try new things or take chances,” Dale Depew of the Seneca News Daily said in a recent editorial.

The DORA legislation which was originally presented and voted on by city council last year would have allowed alcoholic beverages to be consumed on city streets within a designated area downtown between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. six days a week in an area north and south roughly from the Clover Club to The Ritz Theatre and east and west from the Elks Club to the Knights of Columbus.

Businesses like Clover Club and others that are located downtown have advocated strongly for the legislation.

In December, the council voted against establishing the DORA by a vote of 5-2.

Councilmen Tyler Shuff and Ben Gillig voted in favor of the DORA, and Rich Focht, Joe Hartzell, Dawn Iannantuono, Steve Leperd and Jim Roberts voted against the ordinance.

Tiffin City Council members can be contacted via e-mail at the addresses below:

Ben Gillig
[email protected]
———–
Dawn Iannantuono
[email protected]
———–
Jim Roberts
[email protected]
———–
Mark Hayes
[email protected]
———–
Joe Hartzell
[email protected]
———–
Steve Lepard
[email protected]
———–
Tyler Shuff
[email protected]
———–
Rich A. Focht
[email protected]