Jackson explores ballot issue to allow liquor-by-the-drink sales

Jackson city officials continue to streamline liquor-licensing regulations, repealing two ordinances that limited the sale of package liquor during Monday night’s board of aldermen meeting.

City staff said they thought the ordinances — which set limits on the number of package-liquor licenses the city could issue to an entity and in total — were obsolete because they dated to the period after the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s.

The aldermen now are turning their attention to another law from about the same era prohibiting Jackson businesses from obtaining licenses to sell liquor by the drink.

But to do that, they’ll need the approval of Jackson voters.

City attorney Tom Ludwig said Tuesday because Jackson’s population is fewer than 19,500, the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control can’t grant licenses to businesses to sell liquor by the drink.

That’s not to say Jackson residents can’t buy liquor by the drink at certain locations in Jackson, but under current rules, those vendors must meet one of a set of qualifications.

For example, if a business makes at least $75,000 annually and at least $50,000 of that comes from non-alcohol sales, that business may qualify as a “resort” and obtain a by-the-drink liquor license.

Ludwig said a bowling alley or country club might qualify for such a license.

Alternately, a business that has at least 30 overnight guest rooms and derives 60 percent of its gross income from food sales may receive the same designation and license.

Organizations the IRS has recognized as tax-exempt — such as the Knights of Columbus or VFW — also may obtain licenses to serve liquor by the drink.

Or, as Ludwig pointed out, there are businesses in Jackson that have a beer-only license, such as Lloyd’s Tavern, but would not be able to serve cocktails.

A business such as Cask or Primo Vino in Cape Girardeau would not be able to obtain a liquor license, Ludwig said.

“If you wanted to have an operation like that where they’re selling wine and also having tastings, you couldn’t have a business like that in Jackson,” Ludwig said.

If the liquor-by-the-drink issue is put on the April ballot and approved by voters, Jackson businesses would become eligible like businesses in more-populous cities.

City officials said they hoped to facilitate economic growth when they repealed a prohibition of alcohol sales within 100 feet of churches in September.

Ludwig said measures taken Monday night and the proposed ballot issue aren’t explicitly intended to spur business growth but said changing licensing regulations might do just that.

“We’re looking generally at what our liquor laws were and what things establishments can do in Jackson and what’s become antiquated,” Ludwig said. “When you start looking at being friendly for retail expansion, you start looking at those things. The concepts certainly go hand-in-hand.”

The talk of a ballot issue comes weeks after a retail consultant’s report identified bars as one of the sectors with the most growth potential in Jackson.

City staff expressed support for the ballot-issue idea and has tasked Ludwig’s office with writing one to be considered during the board of aldermen’s next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 9.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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