New Noblesville policy will let bar patrons explore downtown with drink in hand

Noblesville wants to add some pep to the step of downtown visitors and is betting a cool to-go cocktail is the perfect inducement.

The city will allow customers to carry alcoholic beverages out of restaurants and bars on Historic Noblesville Square and beyond. Officials said they expect the measure will increase sidewalk foot traffic and vitality, untethering patrons from their bar stools or café tables to explore other businesses and socialize outdoors.

“We see this as another way to help drive business by loosening up the rules on the street, another tool in the toolbox” Mayor Chris Jensen said.

The city has applied with the state to be a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, which permits businesses to sell drinks that can be carried out. Noblesville lobbied for the bill creating the DORA in the Indiana General Assembly beginning in 2021 until it passed in 2023.

The city council recently approved its DORA map and sent the plan to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission for final approval, which could come within a couple of weeks.

Restaurants and bars don’t have to participate in selling to-go drinks and must register with the city if they do. Likewise, shop owners can choose to prohibit cocktail-toting customers from entering.

Businesses that are part of the program will post signs designating their inclusion. The carryout beverages will be in clear, standardized cups with a DORA imprint. Signs will indicate the boundaries of the DORA. People with the carry-out drinks cannot enter other bars with them, or go back in the one where they purchased it.

So far, 13 businesses have joined with a couple more indicating they probably would, said city spokesman Robert Herington.

Jensen said the district is a way to establish a clear and uniform policy.

“It streamlines permitting,” he said.

Isaiah Haymaker, co-owner, of Bica Café, on Conner St., said he is looking forward to the new policy because he expects it to increase business by freeing up tables.

“It should keep things moving and people walking and gives us space to bring in more people,” he said.

The European-style breakfast spot and bakery is open to 3 p.m. daily and is “slammed” on weekends, he said. Drinks to-go will dampen the impact of customers who linger for hours at a table with a single mimosa, Haymaker said.

“There are a lot of places to sit on the square, so people can buy their food and a drink and find a place outdoors,” he said.

At Alexander's on the Square, an ice cream shop that sells sandwiches, beer and wine, co-owner Cheryl Schulz said customers occasionally ask whether it is permissible to take their drinks outside, most recently visitors in town watching the solar eclipse.

“It would be perfect for that or other events, like concerts on the square,” said Schulz, operator of the shop for 30 years. “It will give customers an alternative to being stuck inside and enhancing the environment.”

“I’ve seen it in other cities like Cincinnati and it seems to work.”

Ten other Indiana municipalities have already been approved for DORAs, including Fort Wayne, Jasper and Shelbyville.

Noblesville boundaries for the district extend from the square across the White River to Federal Hill Commons, roughly the same as the city’s riverfront district boundaries.

The Riverfront designation gives cities an unlimited number of liquor licenses in the district, which must be within 1,500 feet of a flowing body of water. The city has awarded 16 still-active riverfront permits, which are in addition to standard permits based on population.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on X/Twitter and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Noblesville policy to let bar patrons walk downtown with drink in hand