Downtown merchants praise the open container ordinance that was established in the spring.
Written and photographed by Jordan Pugh
Three months into the Public Outdoor Designated Area program that allows patrons to purchase and consume alcohol outdoors downtown, we’re hearing just two suggestions from merchants we’ve spoken with: Some would like to swap out the single-use plastic cups with a reusable option, and they’d like to see more marketing behind the program.
The PODA program operates during prescribed times of day within the PODA district, dubbed The Morgantown Mile—that’s the distance the program covers, including downtown streets from Willey south to Deckers Creek and the Wharf District south to the Morgantown Event Center. The program’s goals are to increase foot traffic and retail sales and the amount of time that visitors spend downtown, according to Main Street Morgantown.
Merchants can participate at three levels in the program, each signified by a decal displayed in their storefront windows:
Blue Decal: PODA beverages are for sale
Green Decal: PODA beverages are welcome
Red or No Decal: PODA beverages are not permitted
Downtown merchants in general seem to be pleased with the way it’s going so far. Some say it is too soon to see a financial impact, including Grace Hutchens, owner of Apothecary Ale House, and others. Shannon Dowling, owner of River Fair Trade, is simply celebrating the positive community impact, as is Charlie McEwuen, owner of Tanner’s Alley Leather Design Studio. “It is just one more thing that adds to the friendliness of downtown,” McEwuen says. Jillian Kelly, a bartender at Gibbie’s Pub, says it’s one of several positive developments. “It’s all just working together in this great way to help downtown really start to shine again.”
Everyone we chatted with says that the PODA is mutually beneficial to the serving establishments and participating merchants, especially during events like Arts Walks, First Fridays for the Arts, and the Moonlight Markets, when folks are already strolling downtown.
Merchants are a little uncertain about how the PODA will go now that classes are back in session at West Virginia University—yet all are hopeful that the return of students won’t have a negative impact. “The cutoff time at 10 p.m. may discourage some of the issues we imagine with college kids and an open container ordinance,” says Kelly, at Gibbie’s. Hutchens, with Apothecary, expresses a similar sentiment. “I think because of the time the program stops, you’re going to miss the majority of the younger student crowd coming out downtown, because they start later in the evening.”
Overall, merchants seem confident that the city structured the program for success both during the summer and the college school year.
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