TROY — The city of Troy is seeking several changes to the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA), including changes to the DORA’s hours and boundaries, and allowing the DORA to remain open seven days per week.

“The idea was to revise it and make edits to it,” Troy Main Street Executive Director Andrea Keller said. “Now that we’ve had it in place for a year, we’ve been able to see how it works.”

The city of Troy announced it has submitted an application to city council to approve and establish an amended DORA on Dec. 29.

Changes proposed in the new application include expanding the DORA’s hours to run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and allowing the DORA to operate seven days per week. Troy’s DORA currently operates from noon to 10 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

“That’s just to make it easier to understand,” Keller said. “We’re trying to help citizens be able to remember the rules better, and bartenders and servers who are serving. We just thought it would be easier if it was 11 to 11, so people could remember that easier.”

“One of the other changes that’s being proposed is making it seven days a week,” she said. “That way it’s always in effect. We don’t anticipate it being used a lot if it’s not a weekend, but just to make things a little bit easier.”

A DORA allows visitors aged 21 and older to consume alcoholic beverages outdoors and in participating businesses within the area’s boundaries, during designated hours, and according to DORA rules.

So far, the current DORA has been very successful, Keller said, and no serious issues have been reported since it was started in November of 2021.

“There really haven’t been any issues,” she said, “and it’s been really successful.”

“Especially when there’s a big crowd coming to downtown for an event,” she said, “it’s really beneficial for our businesses, because people stop in and grab a drink before they go to whatever event they’re attending.”

Other proposed changes will include adding new businesses to the list of approved DORA participants, and creating additional temporary DORA areas that could be activated during special events.

“Miso over in the old Mason’s Building plans to open early this year,” Keller said. “They will have a liquor license, so they ‘ll be added as one of the establishments where you’ll be able to purchase DORA drinks. Also, Crafted and Cured is getting ready to open on South Market Street; they’ll be eligible to serve DORA drinks.”

The proposed boundary changes are explained on the city of Troy’s DORA website, which can be found at www.troyohio.gov/DORA.

“There will be some areas that will be added to the boundaries, and then a few areas that will be added to the boundaries that can be activated temporarily for events,” Keller said.

Temporary DORA areas would only be used during city council-approved events.

“They would still have to go through council to get that approved,” Keller said.