BENTON COUNTY - The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division has sent out more than 300 applications to people who want to open liquor stores in Benton County since the county voted in November to become wet, agency officials said.
The agency started accepting applications March 4. Three applicants completed the process as of March 15, according to agency records. Applicants have until the end of April to return the completed forms and pay a $2,000 application fee.
The allotment of liquor stores in wet counties is based on population, with about one store per 4,000 people. Benton County will be allowed 55 liquor stores. Placement of a liquor store is subject to distance requirements from schools and churches.
Liquor store permits are regulated differently from retail beer and wine permits. There’s no limit to the number of permits available to grocery stores, convenience stores or other retailers selling beer and wine but not selling hard liquor. Businesses in Benton County have received 83 retail beer and wine permits. Eight applications are pending.
With more interest than available permits, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division will hold a lottery in June to determine the order in which the division board reviews liquor applications. The hearings will be in July, said Michael Langley, director of administration for the division.
If all 55 permits aren’t allotted, the state would retain the available permits and go through a similar lottery in the future. That happened about eight years ago in Washington County when five or six liquor permits opened up, Langley said. Only three businesses applied for those permits, so the state held the extra permits and announced later it was accepting applications.
“We wouldn’t do it immediately,” Langley said.
Two of the Benton County applications are for liquor stores in Siloam Springs - McGoo’s at 2998 E. U.S. 412 and Arkanbuzz at 3900 E. U.S. 412. The third applicant is TNT Liquor at 1190 S. Arkansas 59 in Decatur.
State law requires liquor stores be at least 1,000 feet from churches or schools, an issue Arkanbuzz applicant Donna McReynolds ran into with her initial choice for a liquor store site. The building she rented was within 1,000 feet of a church, so she had to choose another location, she said.
“In Siloam Springs, there aren’t but a couple of places on the highway that are further than 1,000 feet from a church or school,” she said.
McGoo’s would be across the highway from the Walmart Supercenter in Siloam Springs. Applicant Mike McGooden didn’t want to comment on the venture.
TNT Liquor would be in a building housing applicant Timothy Witcher’s NAPA Auto Parts store.
Witcher said the permit process is “a lot of paperwork.” He is familiar with state alcohol rules. He and his wife, Theresa Witcher, own the Backdoor Club and Grill and TNT Express Mart in Decatur.
The restaurant has private club and restaurant wine and beer licenses. The convenience store applied in February for retail beer and wine permits.
The Witchers had to put the private club permit in Theresa Witcher’s name to avoid conflicts with a state law that keeps liquor store owners from selling to their own clubs.
Some of the requirements for liquor permit applicants include submitting to a background check by Arkansas State Police and attending a class on state liquor laws. Applicants must be residents of the county where they are applying or live within 35 miles of the proposed store. They cannot be a convicted felon.
The application fee is $2,000, but half of that fee will be returned if the application is turned down. The process is expensive in other ways, McReynolds said. Applicants must submit building information for a store location, so McReynolds is paying several months’ rent on a building without knowing whether she will ever be able to use it.
“It’s basically the luck of the draw,” she said. “I just hope I’m one of the lucky names to be drawn out of the hat.”
Liquor store chain Macadoodles hasn’t yet applied for a liquor permit, though plans for a building have already been approved by the Bentonville Planning Commission.
News, Pages 3 on 03/27/2013