WADESBORO — Anson County’s tourism board discussed its dashed hopes for a 2016 alcohol referendum during its meeting last week.
County commissioners decided earlier this month against allowing a referendum that would let voters choose whether Anson County should be wet or dry make it to the ballot this year.
The Anson County Tourism Development Authority asked commissioners last year to add the referendum to this year’s ballot, hoping that if the entire county is made wet, it would increase tourism in the area and retain locals who travel outside the county for alcohol.
During its monthly meetings, the TDA has discussed the board’s belief that allowing alcohol sales throughout the county, rather than in the few areas it is allowed now, would allow more convenience stores, restaurants and other businesses to generate revenue through alcohol sales, boosting local businesses and making the area more appealing to possible new ventures.
TDA Chairman Jeff Boothby has said he believes making Anson a wet county would allow for more outdoor tourism, since many events make profits through alcohol sales. He said being a wet county would make Anson more enticing to hotel chains, since many make revenue through selling alcohol during times when travel is low.
Boothby also believes that it would reduce the county’s littering problem, since fewer people would be tossing alcoholic containers out the window.
During the commissioners’ meeting on Jan. 5, the board voted down the TDA’s request since a similar referendum failed last year. That referendum would have allowed for the sale of unfortified beer and wine throughout the county. This new referendum would have allowed for the sale of all alcoholic beverages anywhere in the county. Businesses selling alcohol in either case would still have had to be licensed to sell alcohol.
“I think that it would not be a good idea to put that on the ballot again this year,” Chairwoman Anna Baucom said. “It would be kind of disrespectful to the voters. They turned it down last year, and I would not be opposed to reconsidering, but it’s the will of this board.”
Baucom added the board felt the request for the referendum came “too soon” but asked commissioners for their thoughts.
County Attorney Scott Forbes said that the county would legally have to wait three years to put the exact same referendum on the ballot.
“Well, then there’s nothing to think about,” Baucom said. She did not ask for a vote since she felt it would be illegal for the county to place the measure on the ballot.
The TDA has previously argued that the move would not be illegal, as the new referendum is for all alcohol rather than just the unfortified beer and wine specified in the old referendum.
Boothby repeated that belief during last week’s TDA meeting. He said part of the problem stemmed from the individual in Raleigh at the State Board of Elections with knowledge of the issue retiring without training a replacement, slowing the answer to the question of the issue’s legality.
“What came out of that was, technically because we voted on unfortified beer and wine before, and this was for making Anson a wet county, we could have put it on the ballot this time,” Boothby said. “The commissioners, however, were not in true support of putting it on the ballot because it was so close to the last time it had been voted on, and so it was their opinion that it would be better to wait a little while before putting it back on the ballot. Which means that 2017 or 2018 is a good chance.”
Boothby said he had hoped to get it on the ballot this year since more citizens will turn out to vote in the 2016 presidential race than in off-year elections.
Until the commissioners allow the referendum to go on the ballot, Boothby said the TDA should research what problems other counties have faced after allowing all alcohol sales, and what benefits they had.
“We do need to be knowledgeable of what’s happening in other places, some of the positives and the negatives, so that if there is some negatives that look like they may transpire here, we can look at ways to overcome them,” Boothby said.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.