Charlotte council slated for first vote on liquor regulations in special meeting tonight

The Charlotte Town Council is scheduled for its first vote on a new ordinance regulating liquor stores in a special meeting tonight. The proposed ordinance presented last month will require retail stores to be 200 feet from a hospital, school, church or other public gathering place and restrict stores to only C-2 zoned property, but does not place a limit on the number of stores. Some council members said they were not ready to vote on the ordinance when they received it at the Jan. 22 meeting, so Mayor Bill Davis scheduled a special meeting for 6 pm tonight for a first vote, so a second and final vote can be held at the council’s Feb. 26 meeting. Davis has said the town should be ready to begin accepting applications for stores in March. Charlotte voters approved retail liquor stores in a Nov. 6 referendum after the same measure failed in 2010. While the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission licenses and regulates liquor stores, the application process begins with the town council, which must approve a certificate of compliance before the application goes to the state. The proposed ordinance establishes a $250 application fee. Town attorney Kirk Vandivort said a separate ordinance requiring the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office to enforce municipal ordinances within the town of Charlotte might have to be passed to satisfy an ABC requirement that towns allowing liquor sales must have a municipal law enforcement agency. Charlotte does not have a police department. The town council meet at 6:00 tonight in Charlotte Town Hall on the Courthouse Square.