Published: October 01, 2009 04:25 pm      

To sell or not — 10/02/09

Results of vote will have little impact on the community8nity

If voters in the Greenup County precinct of Bellefonte approve the legal sale of alcoholic beverages at the Bellefonte Country Club in a special Dec. 1 referendum, it likely will have a positive impact on the members-only golf club, but regardless of the outcome of that vote, the impact on the rest of the community will be minimal.

Unlike most other wet-dry elections, this is not an economic development issue that will encourage growth in the community. The only question before voters is not whether alcohol will be consumed at the country club, but how it will be dispensed. The vote is unlikely to affect greatly — if at all — the amount of alcohol served at the club. Thus, in our view, any argument that a “yes” vote will increase the number of intoxicated drivers on the highways is invalid.

As patrons know, alcohol has been openly consumed at the country club since well before four Ashland precincts became the first in northeastern Kentucky to “vote wet” almost three decades ago.

However, since its creation, the country club has been barred from selling alcohol. Instead, the club’s policy has always been BYOB — bring you own booze. Many members keep their own supply of alcohol in storage at the club for use when they visit the club to play golf or tennis, swim, dine or just visit with friends.

The country club is using the same 2000 state law to put the alcohol issue to a vote in the Bellefonte precinct that Sandy Creek Golf Course used to place the question of legal sales there before voters in the Garner precinct of Boyd County in August of 2008. The minority of voters who bothered to go to the polls in that precinct opposed the sale of alcohol at the golf course, but since 90 percent of the registered voters of the precinct did not vote in that special election, it seems clear the most residents didn’t care one way or another whether beer was sold at Sandy Creek.

We may be proven wrong, but we suspect the majority of residents of the Bellefonte also are indifferent as to whether the club gets a liquor license or continues its current BYOB policy. In many ways, this is an internal matter that should be left up to members of the country club, but the law demands that residents of the precinct where the club is located have a say in the matter. On Dec. 1, they will be given the opportunity to express their views.