WESTFIELD, Ind. — Soon, people in Westfield may be able to walk downtown with alcoholic drinks.
Monday, the Westfield City Council unanimously approved the district. Right now, nine businesses in the district have applied to be apart of the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA.
"As we were talking revitalizing our downtown and walkability components, we were like, 'You know, a DORA would be good here,'" Westfield Mayor Scott Willis.
In this district, businesses will pour drinks into DORA plastic cups and people will be able to walk through the district with them. People will not be able to walk into other businesses with the drinks.
To know what businesses are involved, the city is making them put DORA signs in the front windows.
The city's plan has now been sent to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission for full approval. If approved, Westfield will be the 13th city in the state and first in Hamilton County with a DORA.
Willis said as the city has been looking for ways to revitalize downtown, the DORA will help.
One business involved, a wine bar called Something Splendid, told 13News this DORA can help bring in more customers.
"We want people to come in and experience what we have with the gift shop and wine bar," Erynn Petruzzi said.
While this will be a new experience for residents, Petruzzi said this will create a new sense of community.
"We get to uplift other local businesses around here and encourage our customers to check something out new and vice versa," Petruzzi said.
The city of Westfield tells 13News the approval from the ATC can happen in a few months and they could then open the district in the fall.