SILER CITY — Siler City voters will decide this November whether malt beverages, such a beer and table (unfortified) wine can be sold in establishments such as tasting rooms or breweries, rather than only in restaurants and hotels.
On Monday, the Siler City Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to add two alcohol related referendums to the 2019 municipal ballot. Commissioners Bill Haiges (District 4) and Cindy Bray (at-large) were absent from the meeting.
The initiative was brought to the board last month by the Siler City Downtown Advisory Committee to “open opportunity, provide encouragement and draw investment from the fast-growing segment of the beer, wine, and spirits market; especially craft beer breweries and taprooms.” The board reached a consensus at that time and directed town staff to explore the process and determine how the board needs to proceed.
The ballot will contain the following language:
• To permit the “on-premise” and “off-premise” sale of malt beverages
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST
• To permit the “on-premise” and “off-premise” sale of unfortified wine.
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST
Siler City town attorney William Morgan explained to the board that both referendums contain more language than required since the town already allows “off-premise” sales, which are essentially sales at gas stations and grocery stores. Morgan noted that the ABC Commission suggested adding comprehensive language to ensure that the town’s referendum effectively achieves the goal — the ability to sell beer and wine in establishments that are not hotels or do not serve food including breweries, brewpubs, tap rooms, and wedding/special event venues.
North Carolina laws on alcohol sales are different than other state laws because rather than the state making a law for all its jurisdictions to follow, North Carolina has created a set of guidelines that outline the extent to which a jurisdiction can allow alcohol sales. It is then up to each county or municipality to put those options up to a vote. This means each county and each town within those counties, can have a variety of rules when it comes to the sale of alcohol.
For example, the town of Pittsboro held an election in 1971 where voters decided that it would allow the sale of beer and wine for off premise sales and on premise sales, such as at a restaurant, brewery, or tasting room. The county had an election of its own in 1984 where the portion allowing on premise sales of malt beverages did not pass. As Siler City never held its own referendum, the town was in the “same boat” as the county, according to Morgan.
In 2009, Chatham County placed a referendum on the ballot asking voters to choose if mixed beverages, or liquor by the drink, could be sold in establishments that serve food or in a hotel per the state’s guidelines. The opposition was not as strong as it had been decades before and 65 percent of the voters chose to allow mixed beverages sales. The county’s referendum superseded the municipalities in this case as none of them had specifically held a referendum on the subject previously.
Brandon Russell, co-owner of Pittsboro’s 580 Craft Beer knows how complicated the ABC laws can be and how changes such as the one the referendums address can open economic opportunities. He opened 580 Craft Beer with his step-father Stephen four years ago in the strip mall on Pittsboro’s East Street that used to house the Piggly Wiggly. “We were always big fans of the Raleigh/Durham scene — these kind of spots,” Russell said. “We wanted to open something like that here in town.”
Russell said that at the time, the law allowed a retail shop with beer taps like his to open in Pittsboro, but the local regulators had never encountered the situation before.
“We got to push the envelope of what the rules were and what they would be moving forward,” Russell said.
Since opening, other establishments, such as House of Hops on Russet Run, have also sprung up. Russell has also opened a brewery, Thirsty Skull Brewing, with his step-father and a brewer in Bear Creek.
“If the Siler City referendum passes,” Russell said. “It would give us or another shop like us the chance to open in Siler City.”
Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.