Kent shuts down outdoor drinking in response to new ‘Level Red’ Covid status

The city said ‘KSU students living off campus’ are responsible for the increased case load

By Gina Butkovich
News Lab

Because of Covid-19, Ray’s Place is only allowed to be filled to half capacity. For owner Charlie Thomas, the saving grace for his sales has been the city of Kent’s Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA.

“People love it,” Thomas said. “And you know, the funny thing is, it’s been all ages, certainly up until dark. But it’s been, more in the age group of 25, 30 to 70, age-wise.”

But yesterday, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Portage County is now in a Covid-19 Level 3 Red status, which indicates very high exposure and spread of the virus. By the afternoon, Kent suspended the DORA until further notice and said the rise in cases has been “largely attributed to KSU students living off campus.”

Kent City Council approved the DORA in mid-July in an effort to help downtown businesses. Spearheaded by Main Street Kent, the district allows licensed establishments to sell alcoholic beverages to patrons 21 and older for outdoor consumption in a designated area of downtown.

Following the first 90-days of the DORA, city council was set to authorize the approval and extension of the DORA through June 2021.

“This action is intended to reduce the opportunities for people to congregate outdoors furthering the spread of COVID-19,” Tom Wilke, the City of Kent Economic Development Director, said in an email yesterday to downtown bars. “While it is possible this action may cause more patrons to enter liquor establishments to purchase and consume a beverage, the intent is to give potential patrons less of a reason to visit downtown.”

Wilke said the city is also suspending its practice of closing Franklin Avenue and Erie Streets to vehicle traffic for weekend outdoor seating.

It’s not just the downtown bars that have benefited from the DORA. Gwen Rosenberg, a Kent City Council member and owner of Popped!, on Acorn Alley, felt her store has benefited as well.

“When you have people strolling about or walking around, very often you’ll get people who haven’t explored different parts of downtown,” Rosenberg said in a Wednesday interview. “So it is good for business. I’ve enjoyed it and I enjoy seeing people down there, and it’s a really nice mix of residents and students.”

Rosenberg talked about how nice it has been for her to see college students taking advantage of the DORA.

“I’ve enjoyed seeing people down there and it’s a really nice mix of residents and students, and even some kids are playing, tossing a football around,” Rosenberg said. “Like it really was very pleasant. It was a nice way to get outside and enjoy the downtown.”

As the weather gets colder, downtown businesses have begun preparing for a rough winter, even before the DORA was suspended.

“It’s going to be a lot more difficult,” Thomas said. “We have two floors, and the second floor hasn’t been real busy yet, probably because a lot of it’s been out on the streets. But I think as it gets colder, and as people feel more comfortable and we do a good job of sanitizing, and all that, I think we’ll move customers upstairs. But we’ll still just be half capacity. So it’s just going to be tough.”

In the email, Wilkes states that although the city recognizes the negative effects the suspension of the DORA will have on business revenues in the short term, it is “designed with the goal of reducing County’s risk level in as short of time as possible to minimize the length of this negative impact.”

Rosenberg agrees the winter will bring tough times to downtown businesses, admitting that people probably won’t be drinking outside in January, even if the DORA is reinstated.

“We’ll see how desperate people are to get out of there house,” Rosenberg joked. “But yeah, that’s a new reality for businesses, is how comfortable customers feel coming out, how comfortable, how safe our employees are. I don’t think that feeling is going to go away.”

This article was produced through a reporting partnership with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University.

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