The changes were introduced earlier this month and approved on emergency Friday.
Councilman Mark Cerreta, at-large, has been the lone dissenting vote on the DORA , describing it as mirage legislation. It s trying to be something we re not right now, he said at Monday s council meeting.
Council also approved adjusting the language of potential fire and EMS levies that could appear on the ballot in November, following discussions with the Stark County Auditor s Office.
The proposed EMS levy would now ask voters to approve a five-year levy renewal and a increase of 3.3 mills for ambulance and emergency medical services.
The proposed fire levy would now ask voters to approve a five-year 1.5-mill levy for fire equipment and personnel costs.
Eligible businesses within that footprint will be able to sell alcoholic beverages in designated cups that patrons can take outside, as long as they stay within the DORA footprint. We thought that with the bulk of activity right here . We could shrink the district in its first year of operation down to really where all the action really is and see how that works, said Director of Administration Patrick DeOrio, adding that the city can modify the district in the future.
The district was originally larger because a DORA is required to have a certain amount of liquor permit holders. The city identified an additional liquor permit, held by board game cafe Sapphire City, downtown, allowing them to create a smaller more-centralized district, DeOrio said.