County Tweaks Beer Law

 Supervisors voted unanimously to change the county’s beer ordinance to allow the sale of cold beer to go and to remove the 300-foot distance requirement that prohibits stores in the immediate vicinity of churches, schools, funeral homes and kindergartens from selling beer. 

The changes will take effect 30 days from the date of vote, which came during the July 5 meeting at the Coffeeville courthouse. The vote followed discussion in a pair of June meetings after Tillatoba Truck Stop owner Tommy Griffis requested for his business to be able to sell cold beer. Griffis told county officials that the beer ordinance put his store at a disadvantage because other stores located along I-55 were able to sell cold beer.

The county’s ordinance was adopted in late 2007, a week after voters favored legalizing beer by an almost two-to-one margin. Other portions of the ordinance remain intact, including no Sunday sales and restrictions on signs advertising the product. The ordinance also prohibits beer containers inside a store to be visible from outside the building. The ordinance also requires each store to get a permit from the Board of Supervisors, and that at least half of the total sales from the business are items other than beer. Food sales are required if an establishment is going to serve cold beer for on-premises consumption.

Since the ordinance was enacted, there have been two stores in the county prohibited from selling beer because they are less than 300-feet from a church – one on Highway 32 west of Water Valley in the Sylva Rena community and another on Hwy. 51 near Enid Dam. Previous owners of both businesses asked for the requirement to be shortened after the ordinance was adopted. Measurements taken showed both stores are just under the 300 feet requirement from nearby churches.