Council Approves Request To Sell Alcohol At Doylestown Arts Festival

DOYLESTOWN BOROUGH, PA — This year, visitors to the Doylestown Arts Festival will be drinking in more than just the art, live entertainment, and atmosphere.

For the first time, alcoholic beverages will be served during the two-day event set for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6 and 7.

The Doylestown Borough Council on Monday gave Discover Doylestown permission to set up an area in the Pine Street parking lot to serve alcoholic beverages at the event.

The nonprofit will be bringing in the Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company to serve its craft brews at the event and to manage the area, which will be fenced off with signage to keep the consumption of alcoholic beverages contained within the space.

"Borough ordinance permits the consumption of alcoholic beverages on public property when specifically authorized by the borough council," Borough Manager John Davis told the council. "The arts festival has assumed the responsibility for coordinating with its vendor."

According to Davis, Neshaminy Creek will be responsible for managing the identification process and for making sure alcoholic beverages remain within the boundaries of the area.

"The Central Bucks Regional Police has reviewed the application and has no objections and the borough staff is supportive as well," said Davis.

Basketball Court Upgrade

In other action, the council approved a proposed upgrade to a basketball court at Burpee Park through private donations. The upgrade will include new surfacing, backboards, rims, and nets.

Among the donors are the Doylestown Athletic Association and borough residents Jim Plummer and Curt Goldman.

The updated court would be named "Van Hoof Court," honoring the life of Coach Jason Van Hoof and designated as such with a borough plaque.

Vacating MacFarlane Lane

Also at the meeting, the council unanimously approved a petition by the Central Bucks School District to vacate a section of MacFarlane Lane, which is located behind Central Bucks High School West between Memorial Drive and Lafayette Street.

The school district is seeking to vacate a portion of the street to facilitate two building additions planned at the rear of the school. The petition reserves the borough's right to regulate and enforce traffic on the vacated portion of the roadway. The school district will also be providing the borough with access and utility easement.

Wawa Noise Concerns Aired

During public comment, the council heard from a South Main Street resident who complained about loud vehicles and noise coming from the parking lot of the Wawa on South Main Street during the early morning hours on Friday and Saturday.

The resident asked police to increase patrols through the area. "There are people revving their engines obnoxiously at 11 p.m., 12 a.m., 1 a.m., 2 a.m. If we could have a police presence there, it would be great."

Chief Karl Knott reported that the Wawa "continues to be very active for us with retail thefts and drunks at the end of the night. Homeless people also seem to congregate there," he said. "We're in and out of there quite frequently, but I will put out a message to provide a little more visibility down there."