Crawford’s City Council passed a restaurant pouring license ordinance on Aug. 13 that enables restaurants within city limits to sell malt beverages and wine.
This will be the first time in city history that restaurants are permitted to sell alcoholic beverages.
“We’re going to try to give businesses as many opportunities as possible to profit and stay afloat,” Crawford mayor Seavy O’Neal said. “Anybody in the restaurant business will tell you there's a huge markup on alcohol sales. So that’s a good way to help sustain some revenue.”
Crawford Pizza and G Brand BBQ are the only two restaurants in Crawford. They would have to pay a $5,000 bond and an annual $500 fee to attain a pouring license.
Stipulations include:
- The sale of alcohol in restaurants is limited between 11 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., other than New Year’s Eve. The sale of alcohol on Sundays and Christmas are prohibited.
- A restaurant operating with a pouring license must also gross at least 50% of its sales from food and nonalcoholic beverages.
- The sale of distilled spirits and fortified wine (over 21% alcohol by volume) are prohibited.
Crawford Pizza first raised the idea of instituting the pouring license ordinance in the spring, O’Neal said.
“Waiting on quote from pizza”
City Attorney Mike Childs wrote the ordinance, which is similar to a law passed in Lexington several years ago.
For O’Neal, the ordinance indicates a desire to acclimate with the policies of surrounding cities, making sure that businesses stay in Crawford.
“The only way to get those businesses to really want to establish themselves in the city is to try to make it appealing for them to be there,” he said. “Any (beer and wine) regulations that push back on it makes it a little bit more difficult for them not to want to say, ‘Oh, well, I’ll just go another mile down the road here to the city of Lexington.’ ”