A permit was denied for a wine shop at Holly Street and U.S. Highway 412 on Tuesday, leaving the shop owner unsure what she will do next.
The Board of Directors nixed the permit in a 3-3 vote. Four affirmative votes are required to approve an item. Directors Dennis Brown, Scott Jones and Bob Coleman voted against the permit.
On Tuesday, the Board of Directors approved:
• Accepting a portion of Arkansas Highway 43 into the city street system
• Rezoning 605 and 617 N. Mount Olive St.
• First reading to adopt a new master street plan and establish subdivision regulations
• First reading to amend code for certain library fees and charges
• Amending employee handbook
• Heating and air contract for city buildings
• Giving up the right of first refusal for the Shubat Airport Hangar.
• Destruction order for documents
"I cannot believe a 3-3 votes means I lose," said Donna McReynolds of Siloam Springs. McReynolds requested the permit so she could open a wine shop in the former movie store at 1701 U.S. Highway 412 West.
McReynolds said that she received a state permit to operate a liquor store in January. This permit was granted for 3900 U.S. Highway 412 East, a building east of the Benton County Sale Barn. McReynolds was in the process of transferring the permit to 1701 U.S. Highway 412.
In a letter to the city, McReynolds explained that the city is losing tax revenue by not having a wine shop and package store on the west side of town.
With the store at Holly Street, McReynolds said she would mostly stock wine, but would have some liquor.
She explained that a beer and wine permit only allows the permit holder to sell wine from small farms and not wine that is mass produced, such as Yellow Tail or Beringer. With the liquor store permit she can stock mass-produced wine.
McReynolds didn't understand why city directors denied her permit after granting permits for McGoo's and Stock Tank Liquor on Oct. 1.
After the meeting, Brown explained his vote against the permit.
He spoke about the concern of losing tax revenue. But Brown said he doesn't believe that "taxes can trump the moral climate of your community."
Director Scott Jones said he would be fine with where the state approved her store to be located.
"I'm not convinced we need one on the other side of town," Jones said. He's not a big fan of alcohol in the city, he said.
Director Bob Coleman said the location where McReynolds' wanted the liquor store could be put to a better retail use.
Like Jones, Coleman would have been OK with the location for which she's already been approved by the state. This would put all of the liquor stores in the same place, Coleman said.
"But what about the people who live on the west side of town," McReynolds said. "You've got to think about the convenience of the citizens in the town."
Over the past 12 years, she has helped her mother and sister run a liquor store in West Siloam Springs, Okla. Customers often have asked about when her new store in Siloam Springs would open, she said.
She had planned on closing the store in West Siloam Springs and relocating at Holly Street and U.S. 412.
"I feel like that would've been the very best spot," McReynolds said.
City Clerk Peggy Woody said McReynolds' options -- now that the permit has been denied -- are to apply for a permit for the location for which she's already been approved by the state, wait a year and reapply for the same permit that was turned down or significantly change the permit request.
If McReynolds applied for the permit at the location the state has approved her for, she would need to go in front of the Planning Commission before the permit would come before the City Board.
On March 11, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the permit for 1701 U.S. Highway 412 West.
McReynolds had a shot at the state permit after the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board denied 15 applicants because their proposed locations were too close to a school or church.
"I barely got it," she said.
After Benton County voters approved alcohol sales, people, including McReynolds, applied for one of the 55 available permits in the county. The applicants participated in a lottery drawing to determine the order they would come before the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
McReynolds said she felt lucky to have been given the chance to have her application heard by the state board because she drew number 66.
General News on 04/06/2014