Liquor permit foolishness continues in Oregon District

The Oregon Historic District Society fought the liquor license for Pacchia too, and the license to “What you eat” the little vegetarian restaurant that was to serve vegan and macrobiotic wine, and Thai 9 (update- the neighborhood approved this one- yet cost the owners an extra $40K for the permit) and Wileys and the 5th Street Wine & Deli– the list goes on. Add another obstacle to development that stops the Oregon District from ever reaching its potential.

The City Commission, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, voted 4-1 to object to a liquor permit application for a bed and breakfast in the Oregon Historic District.

Leslie and Jeffery Gonya, owners of Inn Port D’Vino, 22 Brown Street, said they want to share their love of wine with inn patrons. They would like to sell wine from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday in a retail section of their establishment.

“It’s meant to be an enhancement to the bed and breakfast experience,” Leslie Gonya said.

The retail operation also would be open to the general public.

via Liquor permit rejected for Oregon District bed and breakfast.

Nan Whaley was the sole dissenter, showing that “the team” is occasionally capable of breaking ranks. Yet, it’s been a long time since we saw a 3-2 vote. Kudos to Ms. Whaley.

The real problem that should be addressed has nothing to do with the number of liquor vendors, it has to do with the lack of ability to deal with drunks being obnoxious. I hardly believe a B&B is going to contribute to people peeing in yards, slamming car doors or revving motorcycle engines at 2:30 a.m. or getting into fights. If the City of Dayton was able to enforce these other laws effectively, the neighbors, many of whom CHOSE to live in the neighborhood of bars and restaurants, wouldn’t be fighting against this permit.

It’s this kind of short-sightedness that stops full occupancy of the district- and allows marginal businesses to continue to operate without the ability to get fair dollars for their almost “prime” locations. Throw in the stupid rules about parking space requirements and you have the main reason why the Greene has so many new restaurants and the Oregon doesn’t.

Full disclosure: I worked with Pacchia in its first year after it had secured a permit through a loophole, and I worked with “What you eat” on getting the permit that eventually transferred to the “Blue Moon”- which was also a client.

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