By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Chiefland City Commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to move forward with an ordinance that legalizes Sunday sales of alcohol.
The ordinance must be drafted and approved in two public hearings.
The board chose ordinance language that largely mirrors Williston’s Sunday alcohol sales law. In Williston, sales begin at 1 p.m. and end at 12 midnight.
It breaks from Williston in one respect. Alcohol can be sold through 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
Mayor Betty Walker was joined by Commissioners Chris Jones and Tim West in voting to move forward with an ordinance. Commissioners Rollin Hudson and Don Lawrence opposed lifting the prohibition on Sunday alcohol sales.
The discussion of the ordinance didn’t draw much audience participation this time around. The commission meeting room appeared to be filled mainly with people who wanted the prohibition lifted.
Walker didn’t allow comment during the discussion of the ordinance. It wasn’t a public hearing. She allowed discussion after the motion was approved.
When City Attorney Norm Fugate returns with the proposed ordinance in two weeks the ordinance will be given a first reading at a public hearing. Two weeks later the ordinance will be read at a second public hearing for final approval.
West, the city’s newest commissioner who ran on a pro-business platform, led the discussion by giving his reasons for wanting the prohibition lifted.
“I don’t want to restrict businesses from making money,” West said.
But he added he thinks the city could use the additional revenue from Sunday alcohol sales.
West wanted the Sunday alcohol sales hours to run from 7 a.m. to midnight, but he compromised to reach an agreement with his fellow board members on the issue.
Jones opposed that idea of all day Sunday alcohol sales, saying he had received calls from the community regarding Sunday sales and as a lifetime citizen of Chiefland he wanted to respect the views of the callers. Jones felt it was a reasonable compromise to start alcohol sales after church lets out at 1 p.m. He said wanted to respect the Christian community.
“I have some level of accountability growing up in this town. To a certain degree, I’m going to listen to you until things go south and you encroach and tell me how to do something that you don’t even have experience in certain aspects of life. When you bring religion up I’m not going to listen at all,” Jones said. “I have accountability to certain Christian folks who feel we’re doing the wrong thing right now. However, I don’t feel we’re doing the wrong thing.”
Jones talked at length about a friend who passed away recently. He said they had talked about Sunday alcohol sales. He said the man told him how he was forced to travel out of town on Sunday to buy alcohol. He said the man was a Vietnam veteran who fought for this country. He was a local businessman of upstanding character who had never given anyone a problem. Jones said it was the man’s right to purchase alcohol on Sunday in Chiefland. He said that right should not have been taken away from him.
“The people I open the door to drink, they’re not drunkards, they’re not people who are going to cause any problem; those are people you see every day in the community that gives you a smile for free. That’s just my opinion,” Jones said.
Sylvia McCullar took a different view of Sunday alcohol sales.
“I have to be honest, it’s a bit of a struggle. We have had this ordinance, I don’t know how long, but many people have become comfortable with it,” she said. She added later, “The thing we have, is the comfort of the knowledge that there would not be attentive to problems in the city because of alcohol issues on Sunday morning.”
Mayor Betty Walker repeated what she said at the Oct. 22 board workshop on alcohol sales.
“It’s the people’s choice whether they want to drink whiskey. I hate it for someone to control my life,” she said.
She said Chiefland has been a dry town for alcohol sales on Sunday as long as she can remember.
“My stand is whatever revenue we bring in is going to help. If you don’t bring in but one dollar, that’s a dollar more than we have now,” she said.
Landscaping and Tree Ordinance
Commissioners approved the first reading of an amendment to the landscaping and tree protection ordinance.
The new ordinance requires people who wish to remove trees from their property to obtain a $50 permit and submit their plans for which trees are to be removed. If they violate their permit, the fine is $100 and they must replace the trees that were illegally removed.
Responding to concerns from Hudson about imposing a fine and forcing replanting of trees, Fugate said the idea is to require a permit and obtain information in advance as part of the permitting process on what trees are to be removed.
CFEC Franchise Agreement
Commissioners approved a 30-year franchise fee agreement with Central Florida Electric Cooperative. The agreement requires the cooperative to pay 6 percent of their base revenues to the city as a franchise fee for operating within the city limits.
City of Chiefland Regular Meeting October 22, 2018
Posted October 22, 2018
