Ohio University seeks liquor permits for donor areas at sports events

Ohio University is seeking two liquor permits for sale of alcohol at Peden Stadium and the Convocation Center.Athens City Council confirmed during its meeting Tuesday night that the alcohol will not be sold to those in the general seating.According to documents submitted with the permit application, consumption and sales will be limited to donor hospitality areas, which include the third and fourth floors of the “Tower Club” at Peden Stadium and the Rohr Room at the Convocation Center.“Many other universities, both in the state of Ohio and around the country, offer beer and wine sales in donor hospitality areas,” said OU Athletic Director Jim Schaus in a letter of support for the permits submitted to City Council.Schaus said this is just the university catching up with common practice. He also noted they have no plans or intentions to expand alcohol sales in the general seating areas in the future.Ohio University and AVI Foodsystems filed two applications with the Ohio Division of Liquor Control, each seeking a D5I liquor license, on Aug 12.According to the DLC, the D5I liquor license is a different version of the D5 license. The D5 license allows on-premise consumption of beer, wine and mixed beverages. It also allows consumption of alcohol in the original sealed containers off premises until 2:30 a.m. The D5I allows the same thing, but has more requirements such as a bigger floor space, seating for a certain amount of people and proof the value of the business is worth at least $725,000 in property value.All places, such as churches and libraries, within a 500 foot radius of the application location are sent a letter notifying them of a business seeking a new liquor permit immediately. City Council is notified as well. All parties are given 30 days to comment or object to the application.Last spring, Fluff Bakery and Catering on Court Street filed for a liquor permit transfer and, after community outrage, the City Council decided not to go through with requesting a hearing and left it up to the DLC to decide.In this case, Fluff Bakery obtained the license from a different source after being denied the original permit transfer from the DLC.The amount of liquor licenses for a city is determined by population, one for every 2,000 people. According to public records, Athens is currently over its limit of liquor licenses compared to population. The city has three more D1 and D3 licenses, allowing beer sales until 1 a.m. and liquor sales until 1 a.m., than it should.City Council members are being cautious in talking about this topic because of Athens’ reputation with alcohol.The council will vote on their support for the permits at next weeks meeting, and the DLC reviewers will take approximately 10-12 weeks to make their decision on whether to grant Ohio University the available licenses.