Local

County to vote on alcohol sales

Spring referendum has 3 parts

By ANDIE LEATHERMAN, LTN Staff Writer

Feb. 20, 2002 - Cold beer in Cat Square, liquor in Lowesville. Alcohol sales may be coming to Lincoln County.

With one dissenting vote, Monday night county commissioners approved holding an alcohol sales referendum. The issue goes to the polls sometime between April 23 and June 18. The Board of Elections will choose the date during its March 5 meeting.

Commissioner Tom Anderson called for the vote. Anderson said during an interview Tuesday that the referendum has county-wide support.

“I would not have investigated the economic impact had there not been broad interest expressed,” Anderson said. “This is a source of income which could help unburden property tax. If we ignore it, that’s not fiscally responsible.”

According to figures from the Economic Development Commission, Lincoln loses $29.8 million to $34.5 million annually on food and beverage sales to neighboring Gaston, Mecklenburg and Catawba counties.

Economic development experts say that when money is kept inside the county, it has a multiplier effect, creating more jobs, additional sales revenue, greater local investment, higher wages and job opportunities.

The referendum has three parts:

· Retail, off-premise sale of beer and wine in the county, restricted to hotels, private clubs, community theaters and restaurants.

· ABC store sales of liquor in the county.

· On-site, by-the-drink sale of liquor, wine and beer in the county.

Voters may approve the first part without approving the sale of liquor on-site or in ABC stores. The sale of liquor for on-site consumption hinges on the approval of ABC stores.

In the spring of 2000, Lincolnton voters approved an identical referendum. The measure had been defeated in the mid-1990s.

If commissioners had not approved the referendum, alcohol sales supporters would have had to have obtained the signatures of 35 percent of the county’s registered voters to petition for a vote.

Commissioner Larry Craig cast the lone dissenting vote. Craig said he had promised campaign supporters he would not support the measure if elected.

Craig did say the measure had a good chance of passing.

Anderson would not make any predictions, saying there are strong opinions both supporting and opposing the sale of alcohol in the county.

Diane Hovis, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Lawing, said she would like to see the measure pass.

“People leave Lincoln County to go to Hickory or Gastonia. Why can’t we keep the revenue here,” Hovis said.

She said there were few choices of where to entertain clients inside Lincoln.

“There are no places here you can take a higher scale client.”

Not everyone agrees that the referendum is best for the county.

Rev. James Cool, who led the fight against liquor-by-the-drink in town, predicts there will again be opposition from conservatives. He plans to contact the Christian Action League in Raleigh.

“I’m sure someone will be doing something. I’ll do anything I can,” Cool said.

Opponents will likely point to the Lincoln House Restaurant where the bar was closed after repeated violations lead to the loss of its alcohol sales permit. Three other Lincolnton restaurants which serve alcohol have not been cited.

In other business, commissioners granted $10,000 for renovation of Pleasant Retreat Academy. The United Daughters of the Confederacy began renovation work in 1997 and are now completing the project but needed the funds to finish paying contractors.

“It’s truly amazing what has happened to that building,” UDC President Hazel Andrew told commissioners. “You’ve helped bring this building back.”

The 185-year-old building is located on East Pine Street and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The county owns the building, but the UDC coordinates restoration and use.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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