Williamsburg council to vote on Sunday alcohol sales

Williamsburg probably won’t see the first sale of alcoholic drinks in restaurants until at least July and probably not until this fall, and when sales start they may be taking place seven days a week.

On March 20, Williamsburg voters approved a referendum by a vote of 533-519 to allow the sale of alcohol at restaurants, which seat 100 or more people and derive at least 70 percent of their sales from food purchases.

Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said during an interview Monday that the Williamsburg City Council would hold the first reading on the alcohol sales ordinance during its May 14 monthly meeting. The ordinance will contain a provision to allow Sunday alcohol sales after 2 p.m.

"We are going to respect the church community. What we are going to look at is 2 p.m. for Sunday," Harrison said. "I know this is a heated issue, but I am going on what the business people told me, which is they need Sunday."

Harrison said that he spoke with one restaurant owner, who owns 30 stores and told him that he had no restaurants in six-day sale areas.

The council could approve the Sunday sales provision or reject it.

Harrison will call a special meeting later in May to hold the second and final reading of the ordinance.

What then

After the ordinance goes into effect, city leaders can begin taking applications, Harrison said.

After the application goes through and is cleared locally by the city alcohol beverage control (ABC) administrator, then it is forwarded to the state ABC.

The local process takes about 30 days, and then the state process can take up to 60 days.

Harrison said the alcohol ordinance is a compilation of ordinances from across the state, including those of nearby Corbin and London.

Williamsburg’s ordinance will contain a provision taken from Elizabethtown’s ordinance, which requires servers to undergo mandatory training from the state alcohol officials.

The training deals with things like checking for identification for younger drinkers and not serving to people, who have had too much to drink, he said.

ABC administrator

Harrison said he plans to serve as the city ABC administrator for the first several months, and after that he may appoint one of the city’s police officers to serve in that position.

Harrison said that he won’t receive any additional salary or a stipend for serving as the ABC administrator. Once someone else assumes those duties they will receive a stipend for the additional work.

"I want to learn what the whole steps are. If I just turned it over to someone, I don’t think I would learn," Harrison said. "At the very beginning, I am going to be this. Let me say this again, I will receive no pay for serving as the alcohol administrator."

Tax revenue unknown

City officials say they don’t know how much tax revenue alcohol sales will generate.

Harrison said it depends on a number of factors, such as the number of restaurants and the number of people purchasing alcohol.

Based on what other cities have done, Harrison said it will probably be between $40,000 – $100,000 annually.

"I think there are some misconceptions out there that we are trying to say all these great big monies are coming in. I don’t really see there is going to be a lot of money that is never what it was about," Harrison said.

"It was about moving forward, and what else might come because of restaurants."

Restaurant inquiries

Harrison said that both Hong Kong Buffet and El Dorado have indicated they planned to serve alcohol.

"I know there are a couple of restaurants that have started counting seats to see what they can do," Harrison said. "I’ve had three phone calls from three different people looking for a place in town.

"In particular, one gentlemen wants to put something downtown. He was more interested in serving the food than the alcohol, but it has opened a door."

Harrison added that he has also fielded several other general inquiries about restaurants for the town.

"The possibilities are out there. The probabilities are likely," he noted.

Prior to the vote on the alcohol referendum, Harrison announced that two groups were planning to open restaurants if it passed.

He said those groups still plan to open restaurants here.

"They are still saying they are bringing a restaurant. It is not going to happen over night," Harrison added. "It can’t happen over night. They have to build the thing, and it has to go through a license process and they have to get their people trained."