Each Friday this month, restaurant patrons will be able to enjoy the Marysville Outdoor Refreshment Area (MORA).
From 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., within that district, residents can buy an alcoholic drink from an event or restaurant and carry it throughout the Uptown. Residents can take that drink into participating businesses, but not into other alcohol-selling establishments.
The MORA covers Fifth Street, from Court to Oak streets; Main Street, from Seventh to Fourth streets; and Partners Park.
In the past, the MORA has been established only for special city events.
City Manager Terry Emery said the MORA, “has been very valuable getting people in the Uptown and circulating around the Uptown.”
Jason Stanford, development services manager for Union County-Marysville Economic Development, said the MORA may “play a critical role in ensuring the survival of our Uptown merchants.”
Stanford said COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown “greatly impacted” small businesses, particularly restaurants.
“While we are excited that the economy is reopening, we also recognize that our businesses desperately need customers to return,” he said
While some restaurants have permanent or temporary outdoor seating, Stanford said state regulations require restaurants to reduce indoor seating capacity in an effort to prevent large gatherings.
“The MORA events will allow residents to patronize any of their favorite restaurants, including those with limited seating, while having more room to safely roam outdoors,” Stanford said. “This arrangement will not only provide an economic boost to our restaurants, but also to any of the Uptown retailers that choose to remain open late on Friday evenings.”
Emery said the city will also close Sixth Street and bring several food trucks to the area, “to give people some options to distribute as much as possible.”
Officials said the trucks are a short-term experiment to keep large groups from gathering in restaurants and along the sidewalks.
Stanford said he hopes the additional options will have a synergistic effect.
“We hope that the presence of food trucks will not detract from the permanent restaurants and will instead encourage even more residents to visit the Uptown district and patronize local businesses,” Stanford said.
Even at the event, participants are urged to continue to practice social distancing, wear face coverings and do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Emery said the city will create some information sheets detailing the rules and appropriate conduct during the MORA and at Partners Park.
Amanda Morris, Marysville recreation and event manager, said the MORA is not meant to create a crowded, festival-like atmosphere. She said that in an effort to discourage large crowds, the city canceled the May and June Friday Nights Uptown events.
She said the July event, scheduled for July 10, is “on hold for now.”
“It will really depend on what the state says,” Morris said.
She said the city is waiting till “the 11th hour” to make a decision.
“We don’t want to make a decision and cancel something, then find out later that we could have held it,” Morris said. “We are trying to put ourselves in a position to hold these events for our residents if possible.”
She said that while the city’s Touch a Truck event was canceled, officials are hopeful it can be rescheduled for later in the year.
Morris said city has received permission to make the Movie in the Park a drive-in event.
“We just have to find the right spot that makes sense for us as a community,” Morris said.
Emery said city officials will “closely monitor the events, listen to feedback and make adjustments if necessary.”