Sunbury's Square Now Has a Line Around It

Since early September, a marked rectangle surrounds the Sunbury square. Inside it, adults 21 and older can buy a drink from one of four restaurants and carry it along the sidewalks from noon to 9 p.m. daily, apart from a short list of blackout events. Nearly every downtown change this fall can be placed by that line. The one open lot on the square sits on its south edge, and the new restaurants are opening west of it.

Where the line actually runs

Sunbury City Council voted unanimously for the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area on Aug. 5, NBC4 reported. According to the city's approved application, the district runs along East Granville Street between South Columbus and South Vernon, up South Vernon to East Cherry, west on East Cherry to South Columbus, and back down Columbus to Granville. Public and private parking lots fall outside the district, and so do the interiors of Town Hall and the Municipal Building.

Council minutes set the start for Friday, Sept. 4. The Sunbury/Big Walnut Area Chamber of Commerce handled the launch with local businesses, and boundary signs and branded cups were being finished that week. Delaware Source reported that the state signed off that same week.

According to the Chamber's DORA page, four restaurants are pouring into official cups:

Three sides of the rectangle have a place to buy a cup. The South Columbus side has none, so a full loop begins and ends on Vernon, Granville or Cherry.

The rules that shape a walk around the square

The Chamber's rules are short. Drinks have to come from a participating restaurant in an official Sunbury DORA cup and stay inside the marked boundary. They can't go into vehicles, and you can't carry a drink bought at one liquor-permitted business into another. Outside alcohol isn't allowed, and cups go in the trash before you cross back out of the district. Whether you can walk into a shop with a cup depends on the sign posted at each door.

The city's application caps the cups at 16 ounces and calls for compostable or recyclable plastic. No source so far lists a cup price.

The ordinance also sets up a check-in. NBC4 reported that it directs the city manager and police chief to monitor the DORA for its first six months and then report to Council with any recommended changes. Counting from a September start, that review would land around early spring. As of mid-October, no public report on how the district is going has turned up.

The fall dates that fall inside the line

The square has two big dates left on this year's calendar, and the DORA overlaps both in different ways.

1. Saturday, Oct. 31, trick-or-treat, 6 to 8 p.m. The City of Sunbury set citywide trick-or-treat for Halloween night. Halloween is not on the Chamber's blackout list, so the district's regular noon-to-9 hours technically cover that evening.
2. Saturday, Dec. 5, Christmas on the Square, 4 to 8 p.m. The Chamber's program has a lighted parade at 5:30 p.m. and the tree lighting at 7 p.m. It also lists ice skating, ornament decorating, ice sculpting, Santa visits, choir and stage performances, a sing-along and a donut-eating contest.

Under the ordinance, the DORA is scheduled to be suspended during Christmas on the Square. The city's approved application and NBC4's account of the vote both list it as a blackout event, along with Memorial Day Market, the Independence Day celebration, Labor Day Market and Sizzle & Sounds. The Chamber's current DORA page lists only the other four. Council can approve extra suspensions or extensions for special events. If you're planning around the parade, the city or the Chamber can confirm the Dec. 5 setup.

The October event many people tie to the square has already happened. On Oct. 10, Carts, Canopies and Candy paired a 6 to 8 p.m. trunk-or-treat with a Sunset Farmers Market from 6 to 10 p.m. The night included a golf-cart decorating contest, music, open mic and food and drink trucks. The Second Saturday Market describes its 2026 season as four markets, June through September.

The gap on the south edge

Walk the Granville side from District 13 toward Columbus and you pass an open lot at 37 E. Granville St. A small one-story blue building stood there until heavy snow collapsed its roof, and crews demolished what was left in 2025, Delaware Source reported. Owner Brad Hall's Atlas Insurance and Kelley Hall's Patriot Mortgage had offices in it.

The replacement is a two-story mixed-use building on the existing foundation. Atlas Insurance and Patriot Mortgage would return to the first floor, another commercial tenant would lease about 1,644 square feet upstairs, and two 875-square-foot, two-bedroom apartments would sit behind the commercial space. Architect Carly Maggio of 410 Studio told the commission the design follows the Federal-style buildings around the square, with most of the attention on the facade facing it.

"We have the two-story front porch, so you can see we're really trying to get some scale on the front," Maggio said, according to Delaware Source.

Planning and Zoning approved the plan June 29. City Council passed Ordinance 2026.22 on Aug. 19 by a 7–0 vote, on the condition that final engineering is approved. The application gave Aug. 28, 2026 as the planned start date. No source yet confirms work has started, and the upstairs tenant hasn't been named. Once it's built, this is the one new storefront going up on the DORA's own sidewalk.

West of the line, where the new restaurants are going

The other new food openings near downtown sit west of the boundary.

At 571 W. Cherry St., in the building PJ's Original Family Restaurant used from the 1970s until it closed this spring, NBC4 reported that Sticks Table and Tap is moving in. The Columbus Dispatch put PJ's last day at May 31. Owners Jessica Spann and Taylor Trobridge told NBC4 the menu will be pizza-forward, with appetizers, salads, sandwiches, a full-service bar and a milkshake bar. The name comes from golf and lacrosse.

"We really want it to be a family-friendly restaurant – someplace that people can come before the football game, grab a pizza, grab a beer," Spann told NBC4.

The owners said they were aiming for a fall opening. No exact date has been announced.

Farther out on West Granville Street, at Sunbury Meadows Drive, Council unanimously approved Local Provision's three-building, 34,000-square-foot commercial project on July 15. It sits on an undeveloped 4.64-acre lot with room for 12 businesses, NBC4 reported. Building A would have three tenant spaces near a retention pond. The developer hopes to fill them with a restaurant or brewery with an outdoor deck, plus a wine shop or breakfast and lunch spot. Possible tenants for Buildings B and C include a bakery, an ice cream shop, a salon, a bank and boutique retail. No tenants have been announced.

The timeline has also moved. In May, Delaware Source reported that the developer hoped to start the first phase in 2027. By late July, the company's website said Building A would be finished in 2028, with construction on Buildings B and C starting after that. The plans include 194 parking spaces. Back on the square, the C3 zoning district doesn't require off-street parking for the 37 E. Granville rebuild.

If you own a home a short walk from the square, changes like a new DORA, a rebuilt storefront on Granville and a restaurant pipeline heading west are the kind of local detail our team tracks closely. Find out where your home stands today. Keys + Company can show you with a free instant home valuation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.