Chapel Hill beer service may be one vote away

"We have been on this before and we took no action," Mayor Carl Cooper said during the town board's regular monthly meeting this week when he recalled a motion in January that failed to get a second, so it failed, leaving the town without a decision.

Alderman Horace Hill made the motion on Monday to permit beer service.

"It's going to happen one of these days anyway," Hill said as Alderwoman Kim Holton started asking questions.

"If this passes, am I right that it would have to come up on their own?"

City Attorney Todd Moore explained that restaurant owners would have to specifically request an on-premises permit to sell beer to customers -- but if an applicant meets the standards to have a permit, then the town's beer board would be obliged to issue a permit.

"This is vague," Alderwoman Pam Elliott said, noting there's no required distance between beer drinking and schools, churches or other such institutions which are, in other jurisdictions, separated from the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Moore said the state doesn't require such separation.

Voting for the motion were Hill, Holton and Alderman Billy Batte, who made the motion for approval in January. Voting no were Elliott and Aldermen Bucko Bryant and Henry Frame.

"This is the first time I've seen a tie vote," Town Administrator Mike Hatten said. The mayor broke the tie vote in favor of the measure which could become final when the reconsidered for the required second vote. That's anticipated during the board meeting on the second Monday of May.

Between now and then, Hatten suggested, the board might want to gather for a workshop and discuss the issue to find "something everybody could agree on."

A day later, Hatten confirmed that no workshop on beer sales with meals was scheduled: "Nobody at this point has wanted to set up a workshop, so I don't know if they will set one up."

Chapel Hill has permitted carryout beer sales for several years. Permits for the sale of beer for off-premises consumption are issued by the town's beer board. That board would administer the issuance of permits for restaurants to sell beer. The state Alcoholic Beverage Commission is charged with the responsibility of issuing wine and liquor sale permits and enforcing laws with regard to their sale.

Chapel Hill's Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted in January to ban the practice of brown-bagging, which allows customers of restaurants to bring their own bottle of an alcoholic beverage to be served with their restaurant meal.

Also on Monday night, the aldermen voted for several development ordinances.

That included annexation of:

* 54 acres for Ron Lampley along Eagleville Highway. Lampley's request was approved on the second and final vote after a public hearing. The developer plans to start "cutting ground for roads in mid June.

* 40 acres along Crutcher Road for Joseph Daughrity and David Robinson. Town planning commissioners unanimously recommended the proposed annexation and plan of service on April 7. A public hearing and final vote by the town board could be on May 12.