DUNEDIN — Owners and operators of downtown restaurants, bars, cafes and breweries packed City Hall on July 9 to ask city commissioners to designate parts of Main Street as an open-container district, allowing patrons to carry and consume alcoholic beverages outdoors during set hours.
Jason Seibert, who owns Rosie’s Tavern and Flanagan’s Irish Pub, presented a letter to the City Commission that described the merchants as business owners who fill the area “with music, laughter and the smell of something good cooking every single day.”
Seibert told commissioners the city’s competitors are gaining ground. “While we tighten our belts, we’re watching our neighbors pull ahead,” he said. “Safety Harbor, Largo and other municipalities are actively courting visitors. The energy and the dollars that used to be ours. We are losing ground and we refuse to let Dunedin’s magic slip away. ... We don’t believe you want that either.”
The merchants know the city faces financial headwinds that could eliminate property tax revenue, Seibert said.
“We think we can be part of the answer,” he said.
The group pitched two ideas to draw people back downtown and generate revenue that doesn’t rely on property taxes.
The first: “a downtown open-container hospitality district, with the city as a partner and beneficiary,” Seibert said. “We are asking the city to approve open-container consumption within the downtown Community Redevelopment Area, modeled closely on the program Largo adopted for its downtown.”
In June, Largo established a designated open-container area known as the Sip and Stroll Entertainment District. Patrons can buy drinks in approved cups from participating businesses and carry them outdoors.
Under the proposal, Seibert said, the city would sell “official, branded and approved cups,” with merchants buying them from the city. “Every drink carried down Main Street becomes a small piece of Dunedin marketing, and a small deposit into the Dunedin budget,” he said.
Patrons of legal drinking age could carry no more than two drinks at a time, and walking the district with alcohol in glasses, cans or bottles would remain illegal, he said.
“The district runs on set hours that the city controls,” Seibert said. “The city keeps its hand on the dial at every step from who participates to what is poured, and when the district is open.” He estimated the city could benefit from the sale of 500,000 cups a year.
The district is squarely within the city’s authority to approve, Seibert said, because Florida has no law regulating open-container beverages.
He said merchants also want to revive Second Friday, turning Main Street into a pedestrian promenade for a walkable, family-friendly evening celebration. Downtown would be divided into corridors, with vendors and local businesses funding live music and street performers.
“We want to bring Funedin back,” he told commissioners. “Let’s bring the crowds back to Main Street.”
City Manager Jennifer Bramley drew laughter with her first response. “I haven’t seen all of you agree on anything like this for a long time,” she said. “All of you, at the same time, that’s impressive.”
She thanked the merchants “for an extremely well thought out letter,” adding, “and we certainly have the power of downtown here in our City Commission Chambers here this evening.”
The best step, Bramley told commissioners, would be for staff to research what other cities are doing and likely bring the item back to a commission workshop.
“In terms of Second Friday, there are some other factors involved in Second Fridays,” she said. “We can certainly digest this and do our research and get back to you as quickly as possible.”