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Gainesville carves out downtown dining district for public alcohol consumption
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Kelly Mullins chats with friends on the sidewalk outside Downtown Drafts in Gainesville in late July. - photo by David Barnes
Gainesville officials unveiled a map establishing broad boundary lines for allowing dining patrons to consume alcohol in public downtown. The so-called downtown dining district will be bordered by Jesse Jewell Parkway, E.E. Butler Parkway, West Academy Street and Academy Street, City Manager Bryan Lackey told city council members at a work session Thursday. “It is fairly simple,” Lackey said, in identifying the broad area within the boundaries that will be known as the dining district. City officials had to carve out the dining district after council approved on first reading a package of reforms to the city’s alcohol ordinance . Among the reforms is one that allows the consumption of alcohol from a 16-ounce clear plastic cup by pedestrians.