'A community thing'

A new Lafayette initiative would allow those over 21 to drink alcohol outside certain downtown establishments.

Lafayette City Council held a first reading last week for an ordinance outlining a boundary in which businesses and restaurants that sell alcohol for on-premises consumption can have people over the age 21 outside with open containers of alcohol. This boundary is called a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA).

The discussed boundary covered the intersection of 10th and Main streets to the intersection of 11th and Main. Businesses in this area include Trolley Plaza, East End Grill, Ripple & Company and the Cellar Wine Bistro, but the area will potentially expand down Main Street.

“We don’t view this as just us,” said Scott Trzaskus, owner of East End Grill and co-owner of Ripple & Company. “We look at this as trying to take the first step for all of Main Street in figuring this out, because we think first and foremost, it’s better for the city and the people living in the city. It’s a community thing.”

Dennis Carson, director of economic development in Lafayette, said the owners of Ripple & company and East End Grill came to him a few years ago with the idea.

A year later, they put it into action.

“These owners were willing to coordinate this and get consensus on their own in their block and we decided it would be a good area to try as a pilot to see how it would work,” Carson said.

If passed, DORA will be enacted Thursdays and Sundays at 5-10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays at 5-11 p.m. Additionally, “the city reserves the right to suspend the operation of Designated Permittees within the Lafayette downtown DORA during special events,” according to a news release.

Carson said these regulations are dictated by state statute.

“Alcohol is a regulated beverage and industry so boundaries, times, containers, make sense for statutory and regulatory compliance, as well as public safety and how something like this may affect other businesses and those living and working downtown,” he said.

Trzaskus said there will be a second reading to give people a chance to respond, hopefully in June.

“There’s got to be public discourse,” he said.

Trzaskus said East End and the other businesses on the block hope to host more outdoor community events with the DORA ordinance.

“I lived and worked in Chicago for a long time. And one of things I do in Chicago, which is similar to the Mosey, is neighborhood street festivals,” he said. “Typically you would have a band on one end of the street, and you’d have, you know, food and beverage on the other end.”

With Purdue across the river, there is a lot of potential for collaboration with organizations like Purdue Convocations, Trzaskus said.

“If you look at what’s happening, it’s really Purdue starting to push at the river, now across the river,” he said. “It’s becoming a little bit more community like that.”

Trzaskus said other cities and towns in Indiana are interested in the idea also.

“Nick is the city attorney, and he’s had calls from the city of Lebanon and the city of Frankfort already, (saying) ‘Hey, how’d you guys figure this out?’ It’s pretty interesting that there’s far reaching interest already,” he said.

Overall, he said, he hopes the new possibilities with DORA will build community relationships and make Lafayette a great place to live.

“I think it’s a beneficial addition to downtown that will spur more special event activity and help grow and attract more businesses,” Carson said. “It’s been successful in other cities and towns in places in Ohio and Michigan that have had this legislation in place for years.”