Wednesday, September 27, 2000
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Wednesday, September 27, 2000 |
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F'ville liquor vote Nov.7 By
DAVE HAMRICK
It seems certain now that liquor by the drink will be on the ballot in Fayetteville this November. "The signatures have been verified... we have enough," said Lane Brown, a local Realtor who has been working for two years to get the issue on the ballot. It will be on the General Election ballot Nov. 7, he said. City Council will vote Monday on whether to put the issue on the ballot, a formality. State law requires placing it on the ballot upon presentation of a petition with 35 percent of the city's registered voters calling for it. The U.S. Department of Justice must approve the petition, but that's also usually a formality, Brown said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's on the ballot," he said. Brown's target number was 1,755, he said, and although some signatures were disqualified because the people had died or moved away, he still ended up with 1,772 qualified signatures, Brown said, out of 1,843 total. The challenge now, Brown said, is to get the word out and convince many city residents to drive to two separate polling places to cast their votes on the issue. "Many city people go to county precincts to vote," he said, "but it's state law that you can't vote on a city issue out in the county. I tried to fight that, but that's just the way it is," he said. To vote on the liquor issue, residents who vote in polling places outside the city will have to vote separately on liquor at The Depot on East Lanier Avenue. "It's going to be cumbersome," said Brown. He and supporters will be advertising, making phone calls and sending out letters to try and drum up support, he said. Last year, when it appeared Brown might have enough signatures to force a vote on liquor, opposition surfaced from residents who said legalizing liquor would detract from the family atmosphere in Fayetteville, and he said he is expecting a battle now that a vote is scheduled. "So be it," he said. "I just hope that more people get out that want it than don't want it. "We're going to get organized too," he said. "Those who are for it are promoting more restaurants," he said. "I'm trying not to make it a moral issue." If a majority approve, it will become legal in Fayetteville to sell liquor by the drink in restaurants, but not by the bottle in package stores.
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