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June 14, 2009

Hanceville passes booze regulations

By Patrick McCreless

The city of Hanceville has an alcohol ordinance on the books, and one local citizen is ready to take advantage.

During their regular city council meeting Thursday, the Hanceville City Council unanimously approved ordinance 554, which establishes restrictions and licensing fees for the sale of alcohol in the municipality.

“I’m really proud of this ordinance,” said Mayor Kenneth Nail. “I want to lock this thing (alcohol) down, but I want to be fair to everybody.”

Despite being in a dry county, Hanceville citizens can now choose to make alcohol sales legal in their city due to a recent law passed by the Alabama Legislature. The 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 a special election, the new law requires supporters to collect signatures equaling 30 percent of the number of voters in the city’s last general election. Good Hope citizens will need at least 167 signatures while Hanceville will need at least 235.

“I’ve got a list of signatures,” said Hanceville resident Eddie Hamm. “I’m going to bring it up to the next city council meeting.”

Hamm, who owns Shop For Less Bent and Dent Groceries, said he started the petition a couple of weeks ago and plans to sell alcohol at his business.

“I think the town can benefit,” Hamm said of legalizing alcohol.

Even if alcohol sales are legalized in the town, that does not mean Hamm and other interested parties will automatically have the right to start selling alcoholic beverages.

Among the many restrictions listed in the ordinance includes: 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.

Unlike Hanceville, Good Hope Mayor Corey Harbison said he and his council are still in the early stages of passing an alcohol ordinance.

“I gave out copies of other cities’ ordinances Monday night during our council meeting,” Harbison said.

He said the council is currently split on whether to pass an ordinance now or wait until a citizen brings in a petition with the proper number of signatures.

“I’d rather be proactive than reactive,” Harbison said. “People ought to know what they are voting on.”



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

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