In introducing a complete revision to the city of Branson’s liquor control ordinance (LCO), Branson Mayor Raeanne Presley said it was her “pleasure” to present them. If the reaction of the majority of the speakers at the July 14 meeting of the Branson Board of Aldermen is any indication, not everyone shares the “pleasure” and there is controversy within the community over some of its provisions.
The proposed changes to Branson’s LCO will involve the deletion of the current Chapter 10 of the Branson Municipal Code (BMC) entitled “Alcoholic Beverages” and its replacement with a completely new LCO developed by the Branson Liquor Task Force Committee. According to the proposed amendment as presented, the new LCOs will be contained in the same Chapter of the BMC under the same title as the old LCO they are replacing.
In her remarks, the Mayor pointed out that the Committee was formed, and its work started, about a year ago when the board, “Based on comments and concerns of the public and their own observations felt it appropriate to review our current liquor ordinance.” She said the Committee consisted of Alderwoman Sandra Williams, Alderman Jack Purvis, Captain Ron Key, Salvation Army, Chris Lucchi, MG Hospitality – American Bandstand, Steve Scherer, Grand Hospitality, Chris Vinton, Weiss Commercial Reality and herself and thanked them for their work. Mayor Presley also pointed out Attorney, Richard Bryant from Kansas City, who was retained by the city to work with the Committee, has extensive specialized legal knowledge and expertise in the area of liquor control law
Prior to actual public discussion on the new LCO, Alderwoman Sandra Williams presented amendments to the ordinance designed to address some of the concerns expressed by the public at the July 8 meeting of the Committee. At that meeting there was major concern the proposed change would prohibits the common practice of permitting a patron to bring a bottle of wine into a licensed establishment and have the employees of the establishment serve to them either with or without charge.
To address that concern Alderwoman Sandra Williams proposed an amendments to the new LCO permitting, subject to certain conditions, licensees and the employees of “sales-by-drink” establishments to allow alcoholic beverages to be brought into or upon the premises by customers. Another concern was a provision that prohibited licensees from giving away “any alcoholic beverage to any customer.” William’s amendment changed the verbiage to read, “Give away alcoholic beverage to any intoxicated customer.
During the public debate on the proposed amendment a number of the commenter’s questioned the need for a complete new LCO and some wanted to see a section by section comparison between the old LCO and the new LCO. Cconcern expressed over the duplication and overlap of state provisions, the complexity and volume, and the security of the personal and financial information involved with the new LCO.
One major area of concern was the new position of “Director of Liquor Control. (Director)” authorized by the new LCO. Even a cursory review of the LCO indicates that, within the LCO, the Director has a lot of authority and power. From the very first public comment there were questions on that position its cost, authority, method of appointment, etc. As but one example, Rick Huffman pointed out the definition section permitted the Director to be designated “by the mayor or board of alderman” and requested a change to permit the appointment of the Director to involve the city administrator in the process as is done with other city employees.
Throughout the public comment period various requests were made for other amendments. After discussion by the aldermen and without further amendment, the new LCO passed its first reading by a 5 to 1 vote with Alderman Bob McDowell voting against the measure.
On July 16 McDowell made it very clear that he was not against Branson issuing a new LCO but wanted to make sure that, among other things, it was something that actually solves the liquor control problems Branson has, is enforceable, and does not needlessly require the duplication of personal and financial information already given to the state. He said a lot of the comments expressed last night were legitimate concerns he felt should be addressed before the ordinance was passed and voted against it for that reason.
Under the normal procedure, unless the ordinance is removed from the consent agenda, it will become final at the July 28 meeting of the Branson Board of Alderman without any further public discussion.
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