Don't sell that beer just yet in Lubbock

It's always something.

It will be eight weeks or more before shoppers see beer and wine in grocers' coolers as stores line up to receive state alcohol permits.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission will issue permits to sell alcohol throughout Lubbock County after voters overwhelming approved two propositions expanding alcohol sales during Saturday's county-wide election.

But questions about Lubbock's zoning ordinances could further slow the process of opening the city up to alcohol retailers.

Challenging the city's alcohol zoning ordinances, Pinkie's and Majestic Liquor, which own the liquor stores at The Strip, last week filed a lawsuit against the city of Lubbock and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission claiming the ordinances violate state law. The Lubbock City Council approved alcohol zoning ordinances in November 2008 in anticipation of Saturday's vote.

Anti-alcohol PAC Truth About Alcohol Sales co-chairman Josh Allen said while he's not involved in the suit, he does not "believe the City Council has much of an ordinance to stand on."

He described the zoning ordinances, which use specific language regulating alcohol sales in Lubbock's West Broadway District, and set a city standard for floor space and percentage of sales allowed of alcohol retailers, as contradictory to TABC regulations.

The liquor stores asked 237th District Judge Sam Medina to bar the city from issuing the necessary paperwork to obtain alcoholic beverage permits until an agreement can be reached on the wording of the ordinance. An Avalanche-Journal story last week reported Medina will consider at a hearing later this month whether to grant an injunction.

Here's that earlier story.

The suit has nothing to do with whether alcohol should be sold in Lubbock, but rather who can sell it where, said Zach Brady, attorney for the stores.

"As far as we're concerned, the citizens are going to decide whether we have alcohol sales in Lubbock," Brady said. "But if we do choose to have those sales, my clients want to make sure that the rules are fair and that they comply with state law."

The city council approved last December changes to the city ordinances defining where alcohol could be sold in anticipation of Saturday's vote. Lubbock overstepped its authority when the council limited the size of package stores and specified what types of businesses could sell alcohol in the same area, Brady said.

The liquor stores asked 237th District Judge Sam Medina to bar the city from issuing the necessary paperwork to obtain alcoholic beverage permits until an agreement can be reached on the wording of the ordinance.

Cities do have options for zoning under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, but the ordinances they establish cannot conflict with the state law, Brady said.

"What they've chosen to do is not among their options," he said. "What they can't do, expressly under the code, is to discriminate among the different classes of alcohol retailers. They can't let one type of business sell alcohol in a given area and not let another type of business locate in that area."

Obviously, the current setup is a better deal for the existing liquor retailers than whatever comes next will be. I've no idea what the merits of their suit are, but I can't blame them for taking this step to protect their business. We'll see what the judge thinks. Be sure to read this Texas Monthly feature, in the May edition, about the environment in Lubbock leading up to the vote as well.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 15, 2009 to Election 2009