The city of Branson’s board of aldermen held a special meeting at 10:30 a.m. on July 30 for the purpose of discussing the city’s liquor license policy and to review and approve current applications for liquor licenses submitted to the city of Branson before they were forwarded to the state by the city. There were three applications for liquor by the drink licenses, commonly called the “Resort Restaurant License,” for the board to approve Hillbilly Inn Restaurant on West Highway 76, Ernie Biggs Piano Bar and the White River Fish Company both in Branson Landing.
City Attorney Paul Link and the board discussed the general procedure that an applicant for a liquor license goes through to get a Resort Restaurant License within the city of Branson. Link said that basically, the applicant applies through the city, city staff reviews it for compliance with applicable city ordinances regarding zoning, health, and other applicable city requirements, and issues a Letter of Intent which is forwarded, with the license, to the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control for their approval. The city has no direct control over that approval. If the state approves the license it is then forwarded back to the city for the final issuance of appropriate city licenses.
Alderman Dick Gass asked if the city code had any authority to deny a license once the state granted a license. Link said, “As our code currently sits we don’t have anything in our liquor laws or alcohol laws that would allow us to deny a license to that business if they came forth with a valid state license.” There was some discussion that the city code did contain some restrictions on the number of package liquor sales and beer licenses that the city could issue.
The board approved forwarding the Letters of Intent and the three license applications to the state by unanimous vote of all those present. Alderman Jack Purvis was the only alderman not present. After a short discussion, the board voted unanimously not to take any formal action on any future initial application of a business for a state liquor license in Branson. They did however; request that a copy of each such application be placed in their box for review.
Mayor Raeanne Presley later said, “One of the purposes of the Liquor and Alcohol Task Force will be to examine the current city ordinances covering the licensing and serving of liquor and alcoholic beverages within the city limits of Branson.” She went on to point out that as a result of that examination she would anticipate that the task force would determine what, if any, changes were necessary and would present their recommendations to the board of aldermen for their evaluation and decision. Mayor Presley further expressed her hope that the Task Force would be appointed by the end of August.
Furnished courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.
