The City of Warren will not get a designated outdoor refreshment area approved by the Fourth of July, but council members are still in talks about getting a DORA for future holidays. 

A DORA is a space where adults can walk around outside with alcoholic drinks. Some Warren restaurant owners think the idea will bring more people downtown. 

“I think it's the idea of something they weren’t allowed to do before you know…and then the idea of a party,” Nate Barker, Chef & Owner of West & Main restaurant said about why people like the DORA. 

The proposed area where people can carry around drinks would mostly be along Market Street and the square behind the courthouse in Warren. Restaurant owners want to bring in live bands and let people bar hop when the DORA is in place. 

Councilmember Andrew Herman thinks it will make downtown busier, but he’s worried about how safe it will be.

“We have a hard enough time controlling it when it's just a fenced in area here in the courthouse square or at the amphitheater so now we're going to expand that but we're going to have to have a greater police presence,” Councilman Herman said. 

With the right rules in place like wristbands and special colored cups that adults can only drink out of, the councilman and bar owners think it will go smoothly.

“It's going to be fairly regulated. You can't just walk around with an open beer bottle, you can't bring down your fifth of jack and drink in the park,” Barker said. 

“It's not a bad idea to have a DORA but it has to be done the right way or it could backfire,” Councilman Herman said.

Council Herman suggested charging a $1 fee for the colored cups to pay an officer to always be patrolling the area. He also will be suggesting to the council to have a worker pickup litter in the street after the events.

12 bars in the area have already signed up to have a permit during the DORA.  

City council will have a public meeting on July 10 to hear comments. After that, they plan to vote on whether to approve the DORA.