Jackson may repeal ordinance prohibiting alcohol within 100 feet of churches

In an effort to facilitate economic growth uptown and elsewhere, the city of Jackson soon will repeal alcohol regulations about the proximity of alcohol vendors to places of worship.

Under section 5-8 of Chapter 5 of the city ordinances, no license can be granted for the sale of liquor within 100 feet of "any school, church or other building regularly used as a place of religious worship."

This ordinance, however, has proved more and more unwieldy.

"For years, we have been adjusting and changing section 5-8 of Chapter 5," city attorney Tom Ludwig said. "To help us deal with, I guess, the changing way society is."

The section was amended in March 1990, September 2008, February 2009 and May 2011. City staff now is recommending the ordinance be scrapped altogether.

"Both the way people worship and the way liquor is sold have changed over the years," Ludwig said.

In decades past, he said, churches were mostly on large lots. As some worshipers have strayed from conventional church houses to more modern religious spaces, that 100-foot buffer-zone isn't always feasible for churches or the vendors.

There currently are at least half a dozen places of worship in uptown alone, and a development push is on the horizon in the form of the city's ongoing retail market study.

Although the establishment of what Ludwig termed "storefront churches" doesn't jeopardize liquor licenses of existing vendors, the ordinance could create a roadblock for hypothetical businesses such as a restaurant wishing to serve wine or beer with meals.

Ludwig told the board of aldermen Monday night his office considered proposing another amendment but feared it would be discriminatory to enforce an ordinance on behalf of large-lot churches and not their smaller counterparts.

To repeal the ordinance, he said, would solve the problem without opening new liability for the city.

"We've researched it," Ludwig said. "You'd be in good shape doing this."

Jackson Police Capt. Scott Eakers said during the meeting he didn't foresee problems arising if the regulation is repealed.

"Their gathering times don't coincide," he said.

All other existing criteria, including police-conducted background checks, will remain in effect.

"Everything else will stay the same," Ludwig said. "We're just eliminating the tape measure."

Ludwig also said the city's prohibition of alcohol vendors near schools also will be removed, but state liquor regulations will maintain the existing 100-foot buffer. Missouri law also prohibits liquor sales within 100 feet of churches but allows for a city's board of aldermen to grant permission for vendors via written consent.

The board is expected to repeal the regulation during its next meeting.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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