October 6, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
The owner of a local liquor store is asking city leaders to change a residency requirement for new applicants.
Jim Smith, owner of Smithville Discount Wine & Spirits, addressed the Mayor and Aldermen Monday night to make the request.
In order for anyone to obtain a certificate of compliance for a liquor store license, an applicant must have been a resident of the city for the previous two years or a citizen of the county for three years. Anyone in a partnership must also meet the residency requirements.
Smith said this provision of the ordinance could create a hardship on a liquor store owner who wants to sell his business.
“That puts handcuffs on an owner of a store. If I decide to retire and there is nobody around to sell it to then bringing somebody in from outside the county would be more viable and easier to do. There is no other business that I know of that has handcuffs on it where they can’t sell,” said Smith.
Mayor Josh Miller suggested the aldermen schedule a workshop to consider the issue. Alderman Shawn Jacobs also asked City Attorney Vester Parsley, Jr. to do some checking to learn the reason for the residency provision and whether it is a state requirement.
The aldermen adopted the liquor ordinance in 2015 after city voters approved the retail sales of liquor in stores in a 2014 referendum.
Smith was the first applicant for a certificate of compliance to obtain a liquor license in Smithville during the spring of 2015. A second liquor store, Center Hill Wine and Spirits, was licensed later that same year, owned by James Bradshaw.
After applicants meet the conditions for a certificate of compliance from the city, they must then be licensed by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission.