Business owners in area county push for vote on alcohol sales | Move would allow restaurants to obtain permit to serve drinks and three liquor stores to open

De QUEEN, Ark. - A group of Sevier County business owners have filed a petition for the legalization of alcohol sales to be included on the November 2020 ballot.

The group Vote for Growth was formed from about 30 business owners in Sevier County in hopes of promoting economic development in the county. In order for the item to be put on the ballot, at least 38% of registered Sevier County voters must sign the petition.

The petition will be available at some local restaurants including Tres Agaves and other businesses including Gentry Chevrolet and De Queen Auto Group in De Queen. Petitions will also be at Pit Stop and Conquest in Horatio and C-Squared in Lockesburg. Members of Vote for Growth will also be canvassing the county at different times.

If the petition gathers enough signatures and the ballot item were to be voted in, three liquor stores would be allowed to open in Sevier County and area restaurants could file for permits to sell alcoholic beverages. In Arkansas, the population of an area determines the number of liquor stores allowed in each county. Sevier County has a little more than 17,000 residents and three liquor stores are all that would be permitted within the county line, according to members of Vote For Growth.

"We, as a group, have decided to pursue the opportunity to make Sevier County "Wet." Which means alcohol would be allowed to be sold in our county," said a post on the Vote for Growth Facebook page.

Alcohol sales in Sevier County would allow a way the county could keep tax dollars, that are already being spent in other counties, at home. Sevier County is bordered by Little River County in Arkansas which went wet in 2016 and McCurtain County, Oklahoma which is also wet as the result of an Oklahoma state law.

Members of Vote for Growth also hope the sale of alcohol could generate revenue for the county without another tax increase. Sevier County voters approved a 1% sales tax during a special election in October 2019 to build a new hospital for the county, months after the financially troubled hospital in De Queen closed.

The group also hopes alcohol sales could result in new jobs and potential growth opportunities for Sevier County.

Thirty-four of Arkansas' 75 counties remain dry. Pike County and Montgomery County are also attempting to put alcohol sales on the ballot this year, according to members of Vote For Growth.

For more information, visit the Vote For Growth Facebook page.

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