MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — With the announcement of Short Story Brewing coming to the Morgantown area, you may have wondered if it will be included in the Morgantown Public Outdoor Designated Area, or PODA. Well, as of right now, the answer is no. But, could the PODA be expanded to include Short Story or other new businesses not inside the PODA in the future?

Map of the Morgantown PODA district and the planned location of Short Story Brewing in Morgantown (Map courtesy of the City of Morgantown website)
Map of the Morgantown PODA district and the planned location of Short Story Brewing in Morgantown (Map courtesy of the City of Morgantown website)

The easy answer is yes. Morgantown City Council member Danielle Trumble said expanding the Morgantown PODA is fairly straightforward as long as the city council is in agreement. The city council would have two readings of any changes to the city ordinance and then vote on the proposed changes. If the boundaries are changed, Trumble said the state of West Virginia would also have to be informed of the updated PODA border.

However, in the specific case of Short Story Brewing in Morgantown, expanding the PODA to include it is unlikely. Short Story’s “Morgantown” location is technically on the outer edge of Westover city limits, so the city of Morgantown would be unable to expand its own PODA into Westover.

Trumble also said that, while a city is not limited to how many PODAs it can have or how large they can be, patrons are not permitted to bring drinks from one PODA to another, even if the PODAs are directly next to each other. §60-7-8g (9) of the West Virginia Code states that while patrons and guests can take their drinks between licensed PODA establishments, the drinks cannot leave the established PODA area.

Essentially, even if Westover established its own PODA that bordered Morgantown’s, drinks would not be permitted to freely move between districts.

However, laws can be changed, and Trumble says the city’s PODA district has largely been a success since it kicked off on May 15.

“The bars are saying that they are doing good business. The retail locations downtown are saying that they have seen times of expanded sales and the Morgantown Police Department is reporting no real issues with any of the patrons so far,” Trumble said during a phone call with 12 News.

If enough communities and local legislators push for changes around PODA law, like being able to connect different PODAs together, it’s not impossible to imagine that a joint Westover-Morgantown PODA could one day happen.

In the meantime, the Morgantown-Westover bridge is close to the Morgantown PODA district and is easily walkable. You are perfectly within your right to walk across the bridge from the Morgantown PODA to Short Story Brewing, so long as you finish your drink first.