CLARKSVILLE - Obtaining a private-club permit for his combination coffeehouse/radio station in downtown Clarksville wasn’t entirely his idea, according to owner Jody Copeland.
The Clarksville-Johnson County Regional Chamber of Commerce contends that having more restaurants that offer alcohol will help city businesses across the board and liven up the downtown area, and it encourages eateries to seek private-club permits. Copeland said he was approached by other business owners about the idea and adding the private club permit is a good fit for his operation, KXIO Coffee House - an FM radio station that offers coffee and food plus live entertainment on most weekends.
Clarksville, with nearly 9,300 residents, straddles Interstate 40 and has three exits onto the busy thoroughfare. It’s the county seat of Johnson County.
Arkansas has 37 dry counties where alcohol sales are restricted, and 38 wet counties where alcohol is more readily available. In 2012, voters approved measures to shift Benton, Sharp and Madison counties from dry to wet.
In Johnson County, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Coal Hill has a private-club permit, and in Clarksville there’s the Clarksville Country Club; the Crosswoods Restaurant and Sports Club; La Chiquita Restaurant, which obtained its permit in August; and the KXIO Coffee House, which was issued its permit less than two weeks ago.
KXIO Coffee House sits near the University of the Ozarks, a private, liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Enrollment for the fall semester 2013 was 585 students. A spokesman for the university said in an email that the institution does not comment on the decisions of private businesses and it has no position on the permit, saying it will have little impact on the university.
The university’s position isn’t a surprise to Copeland, who said he’s received very little resistance for seeking the permit. There were no official objections to the permit, according to Michael Langley, director of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.
“I’d say 95 percent of the feedback has been positive,” Copeland said.
A change in Arkansas law in 2003 made it possible for restaurants to obtain private club status. Gina Wilkins, executive director of the Clarksville-Johnson County Regional Chamber of Commerce, fostered meetings of city leaders and local law enforcement with Copeland, and earlier in the year with the owners of La Chiquita, to make the officials aware of permit applications.
“We didn’t want to blindside anyone,” she said.
Bob Hester, state director of the Jonesboro-based Arkansas Family Coalition, a group that promotes traditional Christian values, said claims that alcohol sales in restaurants are a useful economic development tool is “hogwash.” He said individual businesses might prosper and some jobs may come, but the community and the taxpayers pay the price overall with higher crime rates and social decline.
“There’s no place ever better off with alcohol,” he said.
He said alcohol sales don’t spur development but instead follow growth to capitalize on energetic communities.
“They go where the money is,” he said of restaurants that sell alcohol.
Copeland bought KXIO Radio five years ago and shifted its country format to classic rock. A music fan and teacher for the Clarksville School District, Copeland had always seen the station as a community asset he wanted to protect.
Less than a year ago, with the approval of the city, Copeland moved the station downtown on South College Street, opening KXIO Coffee House, a java joint that employs about 20 between the different operations.
Copeland said his first weekend as a private club went well, with a good crowd showing up to enjoy music. He plans on adding staff and expanding the menu.
The chamber’s Wilkins said a vibrant downtown is vital for the city’s economy. She noted that the city recently changed an ordinance allowing nonbusiness owners to live downtown, and a developer is adding some one- and two-bedroom apartments to the area.
In addition to the KXIO Coffee House, the downtown has other hangouts and restaurants including the established Fat DawgzBBQ & Something Sweet and newcomer The Healthy Hog, a juice bar and vapor lounge, which just opened a few months ago. A vapor lounge is where people inhale water vapor, usually through an electronic cigarette.
Wilkins said a study the city commissioned from Boyette Strategic Advisors, Little Rock-based economic development consultants, hammered home the fact that the lack of restaurants that sold alcohol limited the city’s ability to attract newcomers and their dollars. She said the chamber hopes to use private clubs as a part of its plan to improve the downtown, much like Conway has done over the past 10 years.
“It’s not a social issue; it’s an economic development issue,” Wilkins said.
She said Conway, which is farther east on Interstate 40 and has a population of more than 60,000, is an example of how private clubs can revitalize a city or neighborhood.
Brad Lacy, president and CEO of the Conway Chamber of Commerce, said private clubs were the spark that set off a boom in the city’s downtown. He said that when Mike’s Place moved in about eight years ago, it changed the entire dynamic downtown.
He said major investment and renovation projects downtown followed. The city’s downtown has eight private clubs now and more than $100 million in development with $45 million planned for the coming years.
Lacy said private clubs are not silver bullets for restaurant owners. To be a success, they still need great food and a savvy businessman at the helm.
“The money is not going to just fall from the sky,” he said.
According to the 2009 Boyette study, many of those surveyed believed Johnson County’s retail and restaurant growth was limited by being dry and that going wet represented one of the county’s greatest opportunities. The study included interviews with 40 people, including city and school officials, business owners and representatives of major employers, as well as surveys of 265 other people.
Ron Drake, author of Flip this Town, a developer who built his reputation in Siloam Springs helping to revitalize the city’s downtown, has been consulting with Clarksville. He agrees private clubs could be part of the solution for revitalizing the downtown area. He said two keys to downtown development that tend to feed off each other is the availability of residential units and some semblance of a night life.
“You don’t want your downtown to die after 5 o’clock,’ Drake said.
Business, Pages 71 on 11/03/2013