TOLEDO, Ohio — The downtown Toledo bar scene will shrink starting Friday night.
The operators of country bar Chevy's Place have decided to shutter their doors until further notice.
This comes after throngs of people gathered on their sidewalk last weekend and complaints about the lack of social distancing were filed with city and state leaders.
John Scott, one of the bar's managers, said they ultimately decided to close because they didn't want to jeopardize their business. While they want to be in compliance with social distancing guidelines and for people to be safe, the bar's staff have found those guidelines almost impossible to enforce, he said.
"Right now, past 11 p.m., once people start getting drunk, it's hard to have a game plan," Scott said. "We can enforce the indoors pretty well, but the sidewalk is another story."
Scott is referring to keeping track of how many people gather outside the bar and keeping those people seated per state guidelines, instead of standing and crowding the sidewalk.
Scott believes DORA (Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Area) is a major reason crowds have swelled outside Chevy's. Bar-goers are allowed to walk around with their alcoholic beverages in the approved cup within district boundaries. Yet, Chevy's Place currently sits across the street, just outside DORA lines.
"This past weekend, 200-400 people came across that street with a DORA cup," Scott said. "We're be held responsible for enforcing DORA, when we're not in DORA. If we were within DORA, that's another story."
Toledo City Council is tentatively set to vote on a DORA expansion that would include Chevy's Place June 30.
The proposed expansion would extend the size of the DORA north on Summit Street past Magnolia, south to the Oliver House, west to Michigan Avenue, and east to the riverfront and across the Craig Street Bridge to The Docks restaurants and Marina District. The Adams Street DORA would be extended to link with the downtown DORA.
If the DORA expansion passes, it would take effect sometime around July 4. But, that's a little too late for Scott.
"That's three weeks. We need to close because people can't gather outside our bar with alcohol, something we need with social distancing guidelines, meaning the bar losing upwards of $80,000," he said. "This is an issue all bars are feeling right now. This is our busy season. We have to make our money during the summer months."
However, Scott said their frustration ultimately lies with the state of Ohio, not the city of Toledo.
"The city is trying to help us in the ways they can, but ultimately their hands are tied with what Ohio is enforcing," he said. "We love DeWine, but he's killing the service industry."