By Rachel Brown

Legalizing liquor by the drink could enhance Murray County’s future, some say, but it’s not the only key to landing economic development.

Allowing alcohol sales, which would require a majority vote of Murray County’s residents, would likely bring in several restaurants that locate in areas where they are allowed to serve alcohol, according to leaders who recently developed a vision plan for the county. Proponents say it would also enhance tourism and create a domino effect to draw other kinds of businesses and industries.

Market Street Services Inc., an Atlanta-based firm, headed the several-months-long process of identifying key issues the county could focus on to enhance growth and released its findings in January.

The last time the county voted on alcohol sales was in a non-binding referendum in 2002, when voters defeated the measure to sell beer and wine by a 2-1 margin. Former sole commissioner Tyson Haynes approved selling beer and wine in stores a few months later.

“We think that, like it or not, it is an important part of tourism,” said Mac Holladay, Market Street CEO.

Sole Commissioner David Ridley said liquor by the drink would probably bring in some restaurants, but he has no immediate plans to put the issue to a referendum.

“I wouldn’t put it on the referendum until the city of Chatsworth puts it on their referendum and we saw how that election turned out,” Ridley said.

Chatsworth Mayor Tyson Haynes said he doesn’t believe liquor by the drink would help Chatsworth grow economically at this point, but the City Council will probably review the issue eventually. Haynes said he doesn’t drink alcohol and doesn’t have an opinion on whether the city of 4,100 should legalize liquor by the drink.

“I don’t believe right now it’s the one issue that’s keeping major restaurants out of Chatsworth,” Haynes said. “We’re still not big enough population wise.”

Chatsworth allows beer and wine by the drink and allows the sale of malt beverages and wine in stores. The city collected about $147,000 in excise taxes on beer and wine in 2009 and nearly another $28,000 in license fees for establishments selling beer and wine.

Danny Cochran, pastor of Holly Creek Baptist Church and a member of the steering committee that developed the plan, said he agrees with all the committee’s proposals except liquor by the drink. Cochran said he opposes drunkenness at least partly for religious reasons but also believes social drinking is a gateway to alcohol abuse. That doesn’t mean all drinking leads to alcohol abuse, he added.

“I don’t think those who want to have liquor by the drink want to see increased alcohol abuse,” Cochran said. “I think both sides want the good of the community, but we do have a different opinion as to what the outcome of that would be.”

Cochran acknowledged some people will drive to other areas to drink as long as Murray offers no options, but he said the community doesn’t need to “legitimize something by legalizing it just because others have chosen to do that.”

At a public meeting in which the vision plan was unveiled, Cochran urged people to focus on the plan’s other, less divisive, suggestions.

Murray school board member Becky Whaley, who is also on the vision steering committee, said she personally doesn’t drink but knows alcohol can be an economic boon to a community. People are more likely to drive out of town to spend their money if they can’t find what they want inside Murray, she said.

Alex Pearlstein, one of the Market Street consultants, said researchers did not find any credible, scientific studies that indicate liquor by the drink always economically enhances communities, nor could they find studies that indicate liquor by the drink causes more alcohol-related crimes.

A study of 74 Los Angeles County cities in 1995 and published in the American Journal of Public Health found that one alcohol-serving outlet was associated with 3.4 assault-related violent offenses in 1990. A representative for Mothers Against Drunk Driving said she did not immediately know of a more recent study. Pearlstein said there’s a dearth of good resources on alcohol’s impact on a community.

“We really did an exhaustive search of research that we thought was valid, that we thought was professionally conducted, that would include that type of information,” Pearlstein said.

Yet Pearlstein, who advocates liquor by the drink as an economic booster, said there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that shows communities throughout the United States grow after they legalize serving alcohol.

Eton, population 501, has had liquor by the drink since 2004. It brings in about $14,000 to the city each year through a distilled spirits tax and more than $7,000 through distilled spirits license fees.

Mayor Billy Cantrell has seen one restaurant — The Sports Zone — open in the city limits as a result of liquor by the drink, he said.

“We haven’t reaped probably what we should off of (liquor by the drink),” he said. “If there wasn’t a downturn in the economy, I really feel we would have some type of steakhouse by now.”

DUIs increased slightly at first after liquor by the drink passed, he said, but not all those DUIs were the result of drivers patronizing The Sports Zone.