MORGANTOWN — Morgantown representatives plan to connect with counsel from the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration to parse out exactly what the city can and can’t do in terms of allowing free-range alcohol consumption downtown or in other designated areas.
During a legislative sit-down earlier this month, Morgantown City Council heard from Delegate John Williams, D-Monongalia, who previously worked with the city to introduce legislation allowing for the creation of Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas, or DORAs.
A DORA would be created by ordinance of city council for a designated space and time, during which people of legal drinking age could mill about carrying an alcoholic beverage purchased within the zone.
Think a Friday night Arts Walk with a glass of wine or a downtown fallfest on Homecoming weekend.
Williams explained that HB 4679 ultimately died in House Political Subdivisions after counsel for the committee indicated the city already has that ability following passage of an omnibus alcohol bill two years ago.
The city’s not so sure.
Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli said the omnibus bill allowed the city to authorize floor plan extensions permitting establishments to serve alcohol in an enclosed area immediately in front of the business — Gibbie’s on High Street, for example.
But the floor plan extensions can’t overlap, meaning there’s really no scenario that allows someone to carry a drink away from a business regardless of what’s happening downtown — even if the city closes High Street, which it now has the authority to do without pre-approval from the West Virginia Division of Highways.
“That’s one of the things that we felt was a restriction within the existing [law] and something we’re trying to figure out, because they say ‘Well, you already can do this,’ but we don’t necessarily see how. And all the other businesses that have these floor plan extensions don’t see how.”
Deputy Mayor Danielle Trumble said she’s been working on this issue with Williams, city legal counsel and downtown businesses but hasn’t been pushing it as hard lately due to staffing issues within the Morgantown Police Department.
“Enforcement is key with something like this,” Trumble said. “With some of the safety issues I thought maybe drinking on the sidewalk isn’t the best thing to try to introduce right now. People will freak out. But it definitely is still something on our radar.”
