[QUOTE=Tully Mars]
I thought Texas has this more screwed up than anywhere else, but reading some of these posts has changed my mind.
Here’s how this works in Texas:
The issue of wet/dry can be decided at the voting precinct level. In the past, that usually (not always, e.g. Cuney, TX) meant at the county level in rural areas. One side affect of this was the “highways of death” on the mjor routes from the dry to the wet counties.
In the cities, the result was a patchwork. You can have, in the same city, the following combinations:
1. Totally dry precinct,
2. Beer, but not liquor or wine,
3. Beer and wine, but not liquor,
4. Beer, wine, and liquor.
This leads to some weird geographical situations.
Statewide, liquor sales must stop at 9:00 PM but beer and wine can be sold until midnight. This means, that in totally wet areas, the stand-alone liquor stores must be partioned into two stores where the liquor side of the store can be closed at 9:00.
In dry areas, some restaurants declare themselves private clubs and sell memberships for $1.
The times, they are a changin, though. At least in the cities. The big retailers are tired of missing out on the sales, especially of wine. The have been some cases where they’ve refused to build in certain municipalities or have moved (e.g. North Richland Hills) because they couldn’t sell wine. In others, they have petitioned to get on the ballot and got ordinances changed (Bedford, Wautaga). The cities are finding out that the extra sales tax revenue is a good thing.
There is currently a case in Dallas where someone is petitioning to get the issue on the ballot in a Justice of the Peace district, which will override/conflict with some of the city and county ordinances. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Dallas is a good example of the patchwork I mentioned before. All of the liquor stores (and the strip joints) are concentrated in a few neighborhoods.
I’ve explained to outsiders that this patchwork concept serves a larger purpose and consequently, it will be hard to change. The patchwork allows the good, God-fearing folks to go to church on Sunday morning and say with a straight face, “We don’t allow that evil liquor or lacivious dancing anywhere near our homes and schools.” But, it’s still within driving distance when Friday night rolls around.
[/QUOTE]
The patchwork you describe bemuses this Houstonian on visits to the Metroplex. A relative bought a house in the Fort Worth area before she realized that she could NOT buy a 6-pack anywhere nearby.
Near Dallas, a Muslim running a convenience store informed us somewhat smugly that beer was NOT available. (Although I doubt that the Teetotalers who started that community intended it to be especially welcoming to observant Muslims!)
Apparently the communities conquered by Houston’s urban sprawl didn’t bother with incorporation, so things are more uniform down here. Or more relaxed–the Pakistani who owns the local liquor store does not drink, but he was happily ringing up sales on Saturday–& wishing us all a “Merry Christmas!”
That liquor store does well because it’s near the boundary between Houston & the Heights. A rarity down here–the Heights is dry. It was annexed to Houston in 1919–with the agreement that beer/wine/liquor could not be sold. The rule still stands, although at least one restaurant has a somewhat dicey “private club” policy. And a couple of places are BYOB. The law that kept out the beer joints is now working against fine restaurants, now that the neighborhood is changing.
Of course, until a few years ago, Texas State Law allowed open containers in cars, including in the hand of the driver!
