Council members not ready to vote on Charlotte liquor ordinance, meeting Feb. 8

With two members of the Charlotte Town Council saying they were uncomfortable voting on the new liquor ordinance they were reviewing for the first time, a special meeting was scheduled for Feb. 8 for the council’s first vote. The council members got their first look at the proposed regulations for package liquor stores at Tuesday night’s meeting, but Sherrie Thiel and Jim Robertson both said they were not prepared to vote on the ordinance until they have had time to fully read and review it. Mayor Bill Davis pointed out that the ordinance must pass two readings and the council could still make changes before a second and final vote is taken at its Feb. 26 session. With a plan of beginning to take applications by March, Davis scheduled a special session of the council for 6 pm Friday, Feb. 8, for the first vote on the ordinance. Attorney Kirk Vandivort said the proposed ordinance is taken from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service model and White Bluff’s ordinance. The proposal would require liquor stores to be 200 feet from any hospital, church, school or other public gathering place, which Vandivort said is the same distance requirement in the town’s beer ordinance. It also limits retail liquor stores to only property zoned C-2, highway commercial, which means they would only be allowed along Highway 48 from just north of the intersection with Highway 49 to almost the town limits to the south. “That’s not much of an area to put one in,” Councilman Tim Reynolds said. The ordinance does not place a limit on the number of liquor stores. “There is some idea of letting the market control it,” Vandivort said. The ordinance establishes a $250 application fee in addition to other fees required by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which ultimately issues and enforces licenses and regulations for liquor. Vandivort said in talking with the legal staff of the ABC, the presence of the Dickson County Sheriff’s Office in Charlotte should satisfy a state requirement that the town have a municipal law enforcement agency, but an ordinance charging the office with enforcing municipal codes might have to be passed. The Charlotte Town Council will meet in special session for a first vote on the ordinance at 6 pm Feb. 8. A public hearing will be held at 6:30 pm Tuesday, Feb. 26, followed by the council’s monthly session when a final vote is expected.