Town & Country applies for liquor license
Town & Country Super-market in Gainesville, currently undergoing a major remodeling project, has applied to the Gainesville Board of Aldermen for licenses to sell beer, wine and liquor.
City clerk Lisa Goodnight said the board of aldermen, also known as the city council, referred the matter to city attorney Lee Pipkins to gather pertinent information and review the city’s Liquor Control Ordinance, last updated in 2010. It’s expected that the matter will be considered by the city council at its next meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12. (The council recently changed its regular meeting date from the second Monday of each month to the second Tuesday.) If the council decides to proceed, a public hearing will be held. In an email statement to theTimes Monday, Town & County Markets president and CEO Joe Polizzi explained the store’s request: “For many years, Town & Country Supermarket and the City of Gainesville have had a wonderful relationship. In order to try to ensure that the relationship continues to thrive well into the future, we have decided that it is time to undertake a major remodel of our store. As part of this remodel, we would like to be able to offer our customers beer, wine and spirits. We have been asked by many customers over the years to carry alcohol so that we can become a one-stop shop for them. ... We would like for them to be able to buy everything they want in one location within the city limits.”
Beer, wine and liquor are sold in the two other supermarkets in Ozark County: Cash Saver grocery store in Theodosia and Evans Kwik Stop #2 in Bakersfield (formerly Hayes Grocery). Convenience stores around the country, including the two Bullseye stores in Gainesville, also sell beer, wine and liquor. The Antler in Gainesville includes a package store and also a restaurant, where it is licensed to sell liquor by the drink. The Dollar General store in Theodosia sells beer and wine.
Polizzi acknowledged that competition in the grocery business was another reason for the request. “In addition to customer demand, we also feel it is necessary to try to equal the playing field with the ever-growing number of competitors in surrounding areas and online,” he said in the email. “As competition and the cost of doing business continue to increase, we are simply trying to ensure that we are well-positioned to continue to be an integral part of this community for many years to come. It makes sense to seek this approval now as part of a larger remodel.”
In his statement to the Times, Polizzi also discussed how the liquor license request is related to the store’s remodeling project. “We certainly understand and respect the license application process and will cooperate in any way necessary,” he wrote. “We hope to complete the process as quickly as possible, as a large portion of the remodel is affected by the result of this process. We are anxious to get started so that we can provide the people of this great town everything they need in a first-rate facility.”
Town & Country’s request follows at least two applications for liquor licenses that were turned down by the city council during the last several years. The Times could not immediately determine the dates and details of those license applications and the council’s actions related to them, but local residents and former Gainesville mayor Don Luna confirmed that license requests from the late Frank McDaniel and from Dollar General were turned down previously.
Pipkins said that an earlier version of the ordinance limited licenses to one for each 350 city inhabitants. That required has been changed, he said.
Several years before his death in 2013, McDaniel built a small building inside the city limits where he planned to open a package store. When the council turned down his request for a liquor license, he built a second structure a short distance away, just outside the city limits, in which he opened a package store and restaurant. Today, that building houses The Center and is owned by the Senior Citizens of Ozark County Board.
The Dollar General application was turned down after a public meeting was held. “A church group attended the meeting and expressed concern and swayed the council to turn it down,” said Luna, who was mayor at the time. “They just said there were enough liquor stores in the community, and they didn’t want more. Only one member voted for it.”
The city’s current Liquor Control Ordinance specifies that, in addition to a regular city merchant’s license, a liquor license holder must pay a fee of $100 per year, plus another $100 for Sunday sales and another $100 per year for a license to sell “non-intoxicating beer at retail on Sunday sales.”
Section 6 of the ordinance also says the license can’t be issued until the fee is paid and a public hearing is held.
Pipkin said he was looking into how another provision of the ordinance may apply to Town & Country’s application. Section 8 of the ordinance prohibits the sale of liquor within 300 feet of a church or school unless the council gives written approval. Pipkin said a recent related court case out of West Plains ruled that this distance is not to be measured door to door but from property lines. He noted that, assuming the western edge of store’s rear parking lot on Second Street is its property line, it is almost directly across the street from Gainesville’s First Baptist Church. The ordinance requires, in such cases, that in addition to holding a public meeting, “at least ten days written notice” must be provided to all owners of property within 300 feet of the proposed license holder.