Last call in Cave City?

Minister petitions to ban beer, wine in Arkansas town

Town’s south to vote on ‘wet’ try

A map showing the location of Cave City.
A map showing the location of Cave City.

Nearly four years after Sharp County voters favored the sale of alcohol in the northern Arkansas county, a Cave City minister wants to ban beer and wine sales in his town.

Bobby Sanders, pastor of Cave City Assembly of God Church, is gathering petitions to place on the November general election ballot a measure to return the Cave City township to "dry" status. He said he believes the sale of alcohol harms the town's quality of life.

Even if he gets his wish, a sliver of Cave City that sits in Independence County could still go "wet" if voters in that county favor a ballot issue in November to allow alcohol sales.

That means residents of the town of approximately 2,400 in southern Sharp County known best for its watermelons would have to drive only a few miles across town to buy beer and wine if both initiatives pass in November.

Sanders' effort bucks a recent trend where Arkansas counties seem more willing to allow alcohol sales.

Sharp County went wet along with Benton County in November 2012, while Boone County voted to sell alcohol in November 2011. Supporters of alcohol sales in Randolph, Independence and Crawford counties seek to place initiatives on county ballots in November as well.

"It's not uncommon," Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration Director Gary "Bud" Roberts said having of dry townships in wet counties. "But Cave City's issue is the only one I've heard of in a while."

Twenty-seven Arkansas counties that allow the sale of alcohol have townships that ban liquor sales, Roberts said. That includes a section of southwest Little Rock that has a dry township along Baseline Road.

"One side of the road is a dry township," Roberts said. "On the other side, convenience stores are happily selling beer."

There are 17 townships in wet Carroll County that prohibit the sale of alcohol and 10 Drew County townships that ban alcohol sales.

Sanders and the Rev. Allen Brown of Cave City Church of God began collecting signatures earlier this month by going door to door, Sanders said.

"The petition speaks for itself," he said. "We want to let the people choose what they want."

Sanders said he hopes to gather about 600 names by next week. He needs 475 signatures of registered voters, which equate to 38 percent of ballots cast in Cave City's last mayoral election.

When Sharp County voted to allow alcohol sales in 2012, Cave City residents were the most opposed to the measure in the county. It passed 3,884 to 3,456 in the countywide vote, but Cave City residents voted 580-306 against it.

Cherokee Village, a retirement community on the north end of the county, provided the largest support with voters approving the sale of alcohol 1,254 to 630.

"I don't harbor anything bad toward Cherokee Village," Sanders said. "I do feel we can make this township dry, though. I think our community will be better without alcohol."

Three businesses sell beer and wine in Cave City -- Doublebees convenience store, Flash Market and Dollar General. A convenience store just north of the Cave City city limits also sells beer and wine along with Evening Shade Dollar General some 10 miles to the north.

Six weeks ago a barbecue restaurant that sells beer opened in Calamine in eastern Sharp County, some 12 miles from Cave City.

Cave City Mayor Ron Burge said the sale of alcohol over the past three years hasn't hurt his town.

"We haven't had an increase in DWIs and there's not a lot more traffic in town," Burge said, referring to concerns raised when the measure was first passed that hordes of people would drive from Batesville to buy alcohol in Cave City. "I can't tell any difference, and I've lived here all my life.

"I've not had any problems with it."

Cave City voters passed a 1 percent sales tax in 2013 to help pay for the hiring of an additional police officer. Now, Burge said, Cave City has four officers who can patrol the town 24 hours a day.

If the town decides to go dry, it will reduce tax revenue, Burge said.

People who come to town to buy beer also purchase gasoline and food.

"If it goes dry, it'll sure hurt our business," said Nema Thompson, a clerk at the Flash Market on Main Street in Cave City. "We sell lots and lots of beer. They come in from everywhere all day long."

Burge also fears Cave City will lose business if voters in neighboring Independence County approve the sale of alcohol. Those Batesville-area residents who make the 15-mile trip to Cave City to buy beer rather than a 35-mile trip to Newport will no longer stop in his town, the mayor said.

If Independence County voters choose to go wet and Cave City voters elect to revert to dry on the Sharp County side, the sections of Cave City will reverse their current stances on alcohol sales.

Some 460 Cave City residents live in Independence County while 1,941 live in Sharp County.

Thompson was asked, if both measures passed, whether the Flash Market would consider moving a few miles south on U.S. 167 so it could continue selling beer and wine in Independence County.

"I don't know," Thompson said. "We've not thought that far ahead."

A Section on 05/25/2016

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