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Roanoke’s Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area ends sooner than anticipated

The Downtown Roanoke Inc. had planned to have DORA open through Sept. 25

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ROANOKE, Va. – The Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, DORA, has ended, according to Downtown Roanoke Inc.

The area began on June 10, and since then, the Downtown area has seen increased foot traffic as well as a wide variety of positive feedback.

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Downtown officials had originally planned to keep the area open through Sept. 25, but effective on Wednesday, Sept. 7, DORA ended.

There were no issues reported, according to Downtown Roanoke Inc., but after Virginia ABC dove into the rules, they determined that entities could not hold a Retail ABC License and a Banquet Special Event License while working with wholesale distributers.

Downtown Roanoke Inc. said that in short, they cannot keep their contractual agreements, have events, and have DORA at the same time.

But all hope for DORA might not be lost.

The Downtown officials said that they are working through the issue with Virginia ABC, and while they have to surrender their license now, they hope to find a way to hold both types of licenses, allowing for DORA to return eventually.

You can read the full post below.


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Alli Graham came aboard the digital team as an evening digital content producer in June 2022.