PITTSBORO — The Chatham County Board of Commissioners is joining the Siler City Board of Commissioners in seeking resident input on allowing beer sales for on-premise consumption.
The board unanimously passed a resolution Monday authorizing the Chatham County Board of Elections to place a referendum vote on the March 2020 primary ballots asking citizens to vote yes or no on this statement: “To permit the ‘on-premises’ and ‘off-premises’ sale of malt beverages.”
Off-premises sale already is legal within the county, but the referendum was written including both “on-premises” and “off-premises” to avoid confusion.
Malt beverages, according to state law, include “beer, lager, malt liquor, ale, porter and any other brewed or fermented beverage except unfortified or fortified wine...containing at least one-half of one percent (0.5%), and not more than fifteen percent (15%), alcohol by volume.”
New Assistant County Manager Bryan Thompson — who just presided over a similar decision in his former role as Siler City’s Town Manager — presented the item to the board. Currently, he said, establishments can sell fortified and unfortified wines and mixed beverages for on- and off-premise consumption in the unincorporated, non-municipal areas of the county, but only off-premise sales are allowed for malt beverages.
“The question is, is this something we would like to have the electorate be able to decide?” he said.
According to Thompson’s presentation, the current set-up “inhibits the ability of certain businesses, such as event venues from serving malt beverages for on-site consumption. In some cases, this eliminates the possibility for establishing other businesses such as tap rooms and craft beer breweries with tasting rooms.”
With very little discussion, the board passed the resolution without questions.
The resolution states the “certain opportunities already exist within Chatham County for the on-premises sale of alcoholic beverages,” but “the County has recognized gaps in the types of permits that may be legally obtained within the County under current authority.”
The 2020 primary election, for which this referendum is scheduled, is currently scheduled for March 3. Siler City’s referendum is scheduled for this November’s ballot, and is joined by a similar referendum on unfortified wine. Pittsboro residents approved the measure in a 1971 vote.
Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.