Voters in the former Gray Township that includes Jacksonville and part of Sherwood approved allowing the sale of alcohol by the drink in a special election Tuesday, opening up the ability to attract restaurants that want to serve alcohol.
Overturning the 60-year-old alcohol ban in the now-defunct Gray Township affects the majority of Jacksonville and the portion of Sherwood north of Maryland Avenue. Approval failed by one vote, unofficially, in a small portion of unincorporated Pulaski County that also was included. Each area held separate votes.
Unofficial results, with all 22 precincts reporting, to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption were:
Gray 1954 (Jacksonville)
For 993
Against 179
Gray 1956 (Sherwood)
For 645
Against 151
Precinct 614 (County)
For 42
Against 43
The alcohol ban was put into effect during the 1950s when Gray Township voters approved the restriction. The Gray Township ban stood even though many such voting districts were abolished across Pulaski County in the 1980s.
At a small election watch party Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Mayor Gary Fletcher kept watching his cellphone for texts from poll workers with precinct results, writing down and adding a running total on a notepad. The evening started off very positive when early-voting totals came in with 324 votes for alcohol sales, and only 55 against.
"Early-voting results are generally an indicator of the tempo for the night," Fletcher said. "We felt very comfortable we were going to win."
Fletcher has said that having most of Jacksonville be dry has kept many national chain restaurants from wanting to locate in the city, even with Little Rock Air Force Base there.
"We try to sell the city, obviously," Fletcher said of pitches made to retail and restaurant franchises. "We have the biggest economic stimulus here with the Little Rock Air Force Base. Our objective is to keep services here so our citizens will stay here and support the quality of life here, rather than go down the road to other cities. So this is really huge."
Marcia Cook, executive director for the Sherwood Chamber of Commerce, said that being able to have her entire city allow the sale of alcohol by the drink "opens a lot of doors" for economic development.
"Our economic development will really improve because of the opportunities out there," Cook said. "It's strange that part of Sherwood is wet and the other part is dry. So this will create more of an even playing field. The northern part of Sherwood will at least be able allow restaurants to come in and be able to offer alcohol."
Robert Price, who is heading a downtown redevelopment effort in Jacksonville and headed the city's election campaign, said having the ability to sale alcohol by the drink on premises is the first of 13 objectives for redeveloping the city.
"The real benefit of drink-by-the-glass is not just to attract restaurants," Price said. "There's a ripple effect from the standpoint of economic growth. Dealers will sell more cars, property values will go up. That's the real benefit of it."
With the passage of Act 144 in the most recent legislative session, the ability for cities to do away with dry sections became more feasible. The act, co-sponsored by state Rep. Bob Johnson, D-Jacksonville, allows city councils to call elections on alcohol laws
Previously, state law required petitioners to gather signatures from 15 percent of the electorate in order to hold a special election related to alcohol consumption. Efforts to reach the required signatures within the old Gray Township failed in both 2013 and 2015.
Metro on 11/15/2017