BELTON, Texas — Alcohol and spirit sales will soon be legal inside Belton city limits, all thanks to a ballot initiative that passed Saturday, May 4.
Excited business owners and city representatives met up Wednesday in Downtown Belton at Napoli's for lunch to celebrate the passage. 6 News Anchor Kris Radcliffe joined them to learn more about what this means for the future of Belton.
Belton Economic Development Board President Brandon Bozon stated, "Like with any alcohol change, it has to be citizen initiated through a petition and a ballot initiative. There have been at least a couple of attempts that I'm aware of over the years that have fallen short, so the group that put it together this year did an amazing job, got it to the ballot and the voters approved it."
Former Belton Mayor Marion Grayson tried to make it happen and she's thrilled that it has finally come to fruition.
"As we all know, tax dollars are important to economic growth and to the city as well as property taxes. So you have new businesses, the property taxes that they bring and the sales tax revenue is going to be good for Belton as they provide what our citizens are asking for and Belton's infrastructure is getting older in the downtown area," Grayson explained.
For businesses like Krista Snyder's Blackbird Books and Spirits in downtown, this initiative will literally save their businesses.
"We've amassed quite a little community of book lovers in the short amount of time that we have been open. But more than that, it means my current neighbors get to continue to be in business around here and hopefully future neighbors, so we can all see some growth here in this area," Snyder said.
Co-owner of Nolan Creek Brewery Jackie Riggs-Brockway stated, "It also means that we no longer have to have a 60 to 40 beer and wine to food and merchandise sales."
So for businesses, the confusion of how much can be spent on beer and wine versus food is no longer a thing, and for property owners, like Susan Robison, their property just became more desirable and in demand, leveling the playing field.
"Number one: it makes the laws for everyone equal and i think that that's probably the biggest catalyst for me," Robison said.
Hopefully, this is a great step for the City of Belton and its economic growth.
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