A BRIEF SUMMARY RE: LIQUOR LICENSES IN THE OREGON HISTORIC DISTRICT

1972: Oregon became a city historic district; at the time there were five liquor licenses.

1982: There were now 17 liquor licenses in the Oregon Historic District. An issue appeared on the ballot to vote the area dry, initiated in part by some neighborhood residents due to the negative impact on the quality of life in the residential area due to the increase of alcohol sales. Because of the threat posed by the dry vote, the City reached agreement with residents to oppose any future license applications on the basis of saturation. Thus the “cap”, or numeric limit, on liquor licenses in the Oregon Historic District (OHD) was established at 17. That specific saturation point has been honored by the City of Dayton, the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, and the Oregon Historic District Society since that time.

1992: In one of the tests of the saturation agreement, the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Tenth Appellate District, Franklin County, reversed the judgment of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court and affirmed the judgment of the Liquor Commission in the case of Ray P. Woodie. v.. State of Ohio Liquor Control Commission. On page 9 of its opinion*, the court of appeals held that: “…there was reliable, probative, and substantial testimony presented by these individuals that the area was saturated”, and that as long as the condition persists, “one more permit is too many”.

1994: Notes from a hearing before the Ohio Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) reflect that the City (and OHDS) were told by the OLCC hearing officer that we could not be selective--we could not pick and choose with regard to support of individual liquor licenses relative to saturation. References in that hearing (7/29/94) also indicate that The City (and OHDS) had previously been told they should be working to reduce the number of licenses in the district, and were criticized by the Ohio Liquor Control Commission for not doing so.

1994-1996: OHDS made no objection to several licenses in this time period, as they were within the limit (17) at which the district had been recognized to be saturated.

1997: The OHDS Board of Trustees approved the first written Oregon Historic District Society Liquor Permit Policy in September, 1997, and provided a copy to the City’s Law Department, the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, and the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control.

2000: The Board of Trustees The OHDS revised Liquor Permit Policy by decreasing the number of licenses referenced with regard to saturation to 16. The reasons for the decrease included the earlier directive from the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, as well as the increase in liquor sales capacity that accompanied physical space increases for a number of Oregon businesses making the capacity for liquor sales/consumption equal to or greater than it had been when there were 17 active licenses, and the fact that a decrease had no impact on any of the 16 currently licensed businesses at the time.

2004: The OHDS Trustees opposed a request to support an application for a new liquor license in the OHD, as it would return the number of licenses to 17. In dialogue about the request, City officials proposed that the 17th license be issued, as that number of licenses had historically been permitted. The Dayton City Commission agreed to recognize the longstanding practice of objecting to the issuance of more than 17 liquor permits within the Oregon Historic District and the issue of saturation with Informal Resolution 600-04 if OHDS would agree to accept the traditionally recognized limit of 17 liquor licenses. The Informal Resolution was passed and the OHDS revised its Liquor Permit Policy to again reflect the original limit of 17 licenses in the OHD. That policy remains in effect in 2006.

*page 4 of the LEXIS online case summary