CullmanTimes.com, Cullman, Alabama

Local News

July 10, 2009

Alcohol petition approved

By Patrick McCreless

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  • Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail shows those attending Thursday evening’s city council meeting an opinion issued Thursday by Alabama Attorney General Troy King stating municipalities could not hold a special election on the wet/dry issue. Amanda Shavers-Davis

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The citizens of Hanceville can vote to make alcohol sales legal in their city — but likely not until June of next year.

Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail announced during the city council’s regular meeting Thursday that the Alabama Board of Registrars had approved a petition to give local citizens the choice to go wet.

“I think the people have a right to vote, and we (council) will abide by what the people say,” Nail said. “We did get the petition back and there will be an election.”

However, Nail also said the wet/dry decision would likely have to wait until the June 2010 general elections. He said Alabama Attorney General Troy King issued an opinion Thursday that municipalities could not hold a special election on the wet/dry issue. At a previous city council meeting, Nail said there was some confusion as to whether or not the city could hold a special election.

The opinion states there is no section in the Alabama Code of Law that gives a municipal governing body the authority to set up a special election for a wet/dry referendum. It only allows the governing body to determine which election date next succeeding the filing of the wet/dry petition will be used for holding the referendum.

Eddie Hamm, owner of Shop For Less Bent and Dent Groceries in Hanceville, submitted the petition last month. It included more than 700 signatures, 261 of which were certified as registered voters by the board of registrars. The petition needed 235 certified signatures to be valid.

Hanceville citizens’ newfound freedom to decide to go wet in a dry county if they want, stems from a law the Alabama Legislature passed earlier this year. The new law allows municipalities with populations of at least 1,000 to vote on whether or not to make alcohol sales legal. Under previous Alabama law, only cities with at least 7,000 people, such as the City of Cullman, could vote to legalize liquor sales. Hanceville and Good Hope are the only cities in Cullman County impacted by the new law. To place the choice on a local ballot in an election, the new law requires supporters to collect signatures equaling 30 percent of the number of voters in the city’s last general election. For Good Hope, a petition will need 167 signatures.

Currently, no petition has been filed for Good Hope.

In anticipation of the Hanceville petition, the city council approved an alcohol ordinance in June that includes many restrictions concerning the sale of alcohol in the city limits. Under the ordinance, businesses cannot sell alcohol less than 400 feet from a church or less than 1,000 feet from a school; alcohol cannot be sold on Sundays; businesses selling alcohol cannot allow any kind of sexually-related entertainment; and businesses cannot display any outside sign that advertises alcoholic beverages.

In addition, anyone applying for an alcohol license must be approved by the Hanceville Alcohol License Review Committee. The committee, which was established in the ordinance, will be composed of the city clerk, the chief of police, the fire chief, the building inspector, the mayor, the council president pro-tem and one person appointed by the city council.

‰ Patrick McCreless can be reached by e-mail at patrickm@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

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