Marion Introduces Riverfront District to Accelerate Economic Growth Share

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May­or Ronald Mor­rell, Jr. has suc­cess­ful­ly estab­lished the City’s first River­front Dis­trict to accel­er­ate eco­nom­ic growth and enhance qual­i­ty of life in Marion.

The River­front Dis­trict will uti­lize Marion’s nat­ur­al resource of the Mis­sissinewa Riv­er which flows through the down­town to pro­mote invest­ment among new and exist­ing busi­ness­es who wish to grow with­in the (pur­ple) bound­aries of the dis­trict. The Mar­i­on Com­mon Coun­cil last week approved to sus­pend the rules of pro­gress­ing the ordi­nance to a third read­ing, and vot­ed unan­i­mous­ly in favor after hear­ing mul­ti­ple tes­ti­monies from local busi­ness­es, state rep­re­sen­ta­tives, and oth­er com­mu­ni­ties who have imple­ment­ed River­front Districts. 

A River­front Dis­trict is a statu­to­ry pro­gram avail­able via Indi­ana Code 7.1−3−20−16.1, allow­ing a com­mu­ni­ty to issue three-way liquor licens­es to approved appli­cants for an annu­al fee of $1,000, cre­at­ing finan­cial ease for aspir­ing and exist­ing restau­rants to invest with­out the over­head of pur­chas­ing a license for tens of thou­sands. The Coun­cil also approved estab­lish­ing with­in the River­front Dis­trict a Des­ig­nat­ed Out­door Refresh­ment Area (DORA) under Indi­ana Code 7.1−3−31 which autho­rizes a munic­i­pal­i­ty to allow indi­vid­u­als 21+ years of age to pur­chase alco­holic bev­er­ages from approved ven­dors and carry/​consume them out­side with­in the DORA bound­aries. This will be the first time Mar­i­on will uti­lize these tools giv­en by the State of Indi­ana to spur eco­nom­ic growth.

The April 16^th Com­mon Coun­cil meet­ing where mul­ti­ple tes­ti­monies were shared and the Coun­cil vot­ed to approve the ordi­nance may be viewed on YouTube​.com under @MarionCommonCouncilMeetings, or through city​of​mar​i​on​.in​.gov/​c​o​m​m​o​n​c​o​uncil, pri­or to min­utes being posted.

May­or Mor­rell stat­ed, ​“The estab­lish­ment of the River­front Dis­trict and DORA in Mar­i­on stands as a land­mark achieve­ment in our city’s devel­op­men­tal jour­ney. Through vision­ary lead­er­ship and uni­fied efforts between the May­or’s Office and City Coun­cil, we have posi­tioned our­selves for accel­er­at­ed growth.”