Leitchfield City Council meeting: Alcohol sales on election day legalized; properties rezoned

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As expected, Monday night the Leitchfield City Council approved the sale of alcohol on election day.

In a 3-1 vote (councilmember Rick Embry abstained, Margie Decker voted nay, councilman Harold Miller was not present), the council approved the second and final reading of the ordinance allowing alcohol sales on election day. Kelly Stevenson, Tooty Cottrell and Margaret Fey voted in favor of the ordinance.

The sale of alcohol on the day of elections had been prohibited in the state until the Kentucky General Assembly bestowed local government the power to determine the legality of selling alcohol during voting hours (6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.).

The pertinent law, Kentucky Revised Statute 244.290, states:

(1) (a) A licensee authorized to sell distilled spirits or wine at retail shall be permitted to sell and deliver distilled spirits and wine during the hours the polls are open on any primary, or regular, local option, or special election day unless it is located where the legislative body of a city, urban-county government, consolidated local government, charter county government, unified local government, or the fiscal court of a county adopts an ordinance after June 25, 2013, that prohibits the sale of distilled spirits and wine or limits the hours and times in which distilled spirits and wine may be sold within its jurisdictional boundaries on any primary, or regular, local option, or special election day during the hours the polls are open.

In a special called city council meeting on Friday, council members approved the first reading of the ordinance by a 4-1 vote.

The city council took the matter of selling alcohol on election day under consideration after a request was made by Leitchfield businessman James Conder, owner of Twin Lakes Liquors.

Rezoning of property

The council approved three zoning changes previously approved by the Leitchfield Planning Commission:

  • At the request of William Swift, lots 22,23, and 24 on Johnson Way Road were changed from R-2 (single-family residential) to R-5 (multiple-family).
  • At the request of Leonard and Tonya Hill, 517 Lilac Road was changed from R-2 to C-1 (highway commercial).
  • At the request of George and Judy Hack, lots 17 and 18 on Cassidy Lane were changed from R-2 to C-1.

City sells property on Cave Mill Road

At the last regularly scheduled Leitchfield City Council meeting on September 4, City Attorney Kenneth Smart opened the lone bid for a property, located at 117 Cave Mill Road, that the city is interested in selling.

At the Sept. 4 meeting, Jerry Vincent’s $6,000 offer for the roughly 10,000 square-foot property was deemed too low to accept, resulting in Mayor William Thomason making an $8,000 counter-offer to Vincent.

At Monday’s meeting, Mayor Thomason said that Vincent agreed to increase his offer to $7,000, an amount city council members unanimously accepted.

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000