Liquor Referendum On Ballot

August 26, 2004

HUNTSVILLE - Voters who head to the polls here on November 2 will be voting for or against a referendum that would allow legalized liquor sales inside the town's municipal limits.

The referendum has been added to the town's November 2 ballot after a petition containing 78 signatures in support of the referendum was returned to the Scott County Election Commission Office. In order for a referendum to be placed on the ballot, signatures of 10 percent of the town's registered voters must be obtained.

The referendum would allow liquor to be sold by the drhink only in established restaurants with 75 or more seats that get more than half of their revenue from the sale of food.

Huntsville's Don Stansberry, III led the charge to have the referendum placed on the ballot. He said that he hopes legalized liquor sales will attract restaurants to the town.

"We've been looking for a restaurant for a number of years out near the hotel," Stansberry said. "We have had contacts with a number of them, Applebees, Ruby Tuesday's, Red Lobster, et cetera, and all of them indicate that they wouldn't even consider locating in a town of our size and population unless they could sell legal liquor and wine."

Stansberry said that if the referendum is passed, law would restrict liquor sales to on-site consumption only.

"In looking into the issue, I've discovered that the law would limit the type of establishments that could get a liquor license," he said. "They would basically have to be a restaurant with 75 seats or more that regularly sells food, and all of its servers would have to be trained and certified through a state program, so it's really much more restrictive than a beer license."

Stansberry added that the referendum would not permit liquor to be sold in package stores or freestanding bars. He said that he had been researching the issue for "six to eight months," and had found "a lot more enthusiasm for it than I had expected."

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