Carmel plans for district that allows carrying alcohol outdoors

By CHRISTOPHER CLAFFEY & GREGG MONTGOMERY
WISH-TV | wishtv.com

The Carmel city government is looking to establish a Designated Outdoor Recreational Area.

Established by state law in 2023, DORAs allow alcohol to be carried outdoors in designated containers from designated businesses.

City Councilor Matthew Snyder, one of three sponsors of an ordinance to create the district, is supporting the proposal. The Republican says the upsides outweigh the downsides, and says it has support.

“There is a huge amount of support from the business owners around,” Snyder said. “In fact, I haven’t spoken with one against it yet. Our chamber of commerce, OneZone, has come out formally and in great support of this. We have not heard of anybody against it yet. We’ve had a few questions that people have wanted clarified, and, once they were, they were supportive.”

The ordinance will be introduced to the City Council at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 1 Civic Square.

A map in the ordinance shows the district roughly bordered on the north by First Street Northwest; on the west by Fourth Avenue Southwest and Third Avenue Southwest; on the south by West Carmel Drive; and on the east by Executive Drive, the businesses along both sides of Range Line Road, and First Avenue Southeast. The Carmel Arts & Design District and The Center for the Performing Arts would be within the district.

Graphic provided by City of Carmel

It’s not clear if the ordinance will be voted on at Monday’s meeting or sent to a committee for further review.

According to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, these cities and towns have active DORAs: Batesville, Fort Wayne (it has two DORAs), Greensburg, Huntingburg, Jasper, Jeffersonville, Kirklin, Lawrenceburg, Logansport, Shelbyville, Warsaw, Winona Lake, and Yorktown.

Noblesville City Council in April approved the startup of a DORA, and Westfield City Council on Monday approved one of its own.

This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/local-news/carmel-plans-for-district-that-allows-carrying-alcohol-outdoors.