SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — The people of Sevierville have spoken and are now making plans to allow liquor stores in the city.
In early May, voters went to the polls and voted yes in favor of liquor stores. Sevierville city leaders met Friday to discuss the rules that will come along with the new change.
Restrictions on liquor in Sevier County have changed gradually over the years. In 2018, voters decided to allow grocery stores outside of the county's cities to sell wine. In 2013, Pigeon Forge voted to allow liquor-by-the-drink sales even though Sevierville already allowed such sales, as well as beer sales.
Before May’s election vote, Gatlinburg was the only city in Sevier County that allowed liquor stores to sell drinks. Soon, Sevierville may be another area where people in the county can buy bottles of liquor.
On May 4, voters in the Sevierville municipal election had an additional option their ballot — whether to allow bottles of alcoholic drinks to be sold at stores in the city. According to unofficial results from the Sevierville Election Commission, 589 votes were cast to approve the referendum.
The closest store, right now, is in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.
Now that Sevierville can officially sell liquor out of package stores, there are a lot of logistics to sort out. For example, how many people can open a store and how far apart liquor stores must be from each other. The city met to discuss these hurdles Friday, but it seems lots of those questions remain unanswered.
"What are we going to do about liquor is the next obvious question,” Mayor Robbie Fox said.
The board could not decide on how close liquor stores can be to churches and schools.
"Can we agree on 500 feet?" Fox asked.
When it comes to who will be granted a permit, that remains undecided, too. Board members spent a substantial amount of time discussing whether liquor stores should be in zoned areas, and if so, where.
"If we were going to 'zone' and put the liquor stores in different areas, how many would we put on Highway 66?" Mayor Fox asked.
Board members discussed whether there should be a space limit to how close one liquor store should be to another. About half argued no and that it would sort itself out. The other half, including the mayor, argued they do not want liquor stores on top of each other even though many restaurants and bars are right next to each other selling liquor by the shot.
Perhaps the most pressing question though, is how many businesses will get permits to sell liquor.
"I think everybody should have a chance to get a license to open because if we limit it some of y'all are going to be left out and I don't think the city should be choosing the winners and losers. I think the citizens should be able to open their businesses and let the public decide who the winners and losers are," City Alderman Travis McCroskey said.
At least 80 people showed up to the meeting inside Sevierville Civic Center Friday to find out how they can open their own liquor store in the city.
The answers are still up in the air. There will be another work session with more possible defined answers on July 17, inside the Sevierville Council Room. It starts at 3 p.m.