FREMONT, Ohio — It's a trend that has taken off all around Ohio.
Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Areas, or DORA districts, are popping up from Toledo to the suburbs and even in more rural communities.
With surrounding communities like Port Clinton and Tiffin establishing a downtown outdoor refreshment area, The city of Fremont's Mayor Danny Sanchez said it is now time for his community to weigh in on if a DORA would work for them.
"It's something that seems to be going well in other communities. It's not something that I wanted to jump into right away, it was something that I wanted to kind of sit back and watch and see how it played out in other communities," said Sanchez.
Currently, downtown Fremont has a handful of establishments with liquor licenses, but Mayor Sanchez said if their DORA includes State Street as well, it could be a very robust area.
Sanchez said the idea of a DORA will have to go through plenty of community input as well, as there is a good chunk of residential areas bordering the possible L shaped DORA.
The mayor has begun the process of organizing a group of business owners to promote a DORA in the area and said he hopes to have the boundaries and times set to get a proper proposal in front of city council soon.
He said a DORA could initiate a proper economic boom in the area if it is done properly.
"You know, create a hub for people to want to stay in the city. And then you'd attract new people to live in the city, hence you can hopefully meet your workforce issues and things like that," said Sanchez.
Mayor Sanchez said he would like to see an official proposal brought before city council and hopefully passed within the next 90 days.