The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce submitted more than 5,000 signatures this week to the Pulaski County clerk's office, seeking to hold a special election on allowing alcohol sales in restaurants and stores for the first time in more than 60 years.
Jacksonville and its surrounding unincorporated area and parts of Sherwood have remained "dry" while the rest of Pulaski County has been "wet" because of votes in the 1950s in Gray Township.
Since Act 1018, which allowed for the identification of voting districts that originally passed the alcohol measures, was passed in 2013, the Jacksonville, Sherwood and North Little Rock chambers of commerce have been gathering signatures to overturn prohibitions on alcohol.
In 2014, the North Little Rock areas of Park Hill and part of what is now Lakewood and Indian Hills voted to overturn a 1966 ban on alcohol sales.
A movement to overturn a 1956 ban in the north part of Sherwood is in the works, but officials haven't submitted the required 4,752 signatures, or 38 percent of registered voters who live north of Maryland Avenue.
Jacksonville needs at least 5,008 signatures to be verified by the clerk's office to get the measure on a special election ballot.
Chamber Executive Director Amy Mattison said she believes the effort will pass muster.
"We're just waiting for them to tell us," she said. "We are continuing to collect signatures as we speak."
The clerk's office is verifying the signatures, which then would be checked for duplication.
Mattison and Mayor Gary Fletcher said alcohol sales would make the city more attractive to national restaurant chains that want to offer full-service menus without having to seek a private club permit.
"We do have a Chili's here," Mattison said, adding that its sales are particularly high for its region.
But the city wants to get even more restaurants, she said.
"Other restaurants come and look, but they do not want to jump though the hoops of having a private club license," Mattison said.
Mattison and Fletcher said Little Rock Air Force Base should be a draw for restaurants and businesses to make homes in Jacksonville.
"We ought to have every restaurant you can think of," Fletcher said.
Mattison said she and other petitioners have sold the repeal of the 1954 vote to residents by telling them it will be a boon to sales-tax revenue in the city if more businesses arrive.
The city depends on sales tax for 66 percent of its revenue, Fletcher said. Jacksonville saw declining sales-tax revenue from 2008 to 2012, according to a 2013 University of Arkansas at Little Rock study commissioned by the chamber.
The study determined that Jacksonville has a total of $601,219 in "unmet demand" for full-service restaurants, or restaurants with food and alcoholic drink options.
The petition to allow alcohol sales doesn't have any organized opposition yet, officials said.
Fletcher said he expects people to speak against the repeal if it gets to a vote.
Metro on 01/28/2015