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Clarksville staff outline lottery process for 11 retail liquor certificates after 66 applications
Summary
City staff described the certificate-of-compliance lottery process for retail liquor store permits created under an amended liquor ordinance. The clerk said 66 applications were complete; the council will vote on a resolution to approve 11 lottery winners after a public drawing.
City staff on June 26 explained the process the council will use to draw and approve 11 city certificates of compliance for retail liquor stores after the council amended local alcoholic-beverage rules late last year.
City Attorney Bittner and City Clerk Lisa Canfield presented the procedures. Canfield said the city published notice beginning May 1, accepted applications from May 5'27, and processed applicant files for completeness on May 28. After GIS and department reviews, Canfield reported, "That left us with, I think, about 66 applications in total." She told the council she had created paper entries with each applicant's name and address, placed them in an opaque box and would draw names publicly.
Canfield described rules to avoid awarding multiple certificates for the same address: once an address is drawn, additional applications listing that address will be voided; the city will pull 11 names by lottery and the council will then vote on a single resolution approving all 11 certificates at once rather than separate resolutions for each winner. She also said the city added a $250 application fee and updated distance limits in the liquor code (no store within 500 feet of a school, park, or religious institution; no closer than 1,500 feet to another liquor store). Canfield said applicants have 120 days after receiving a city certificate to obtain the state liquor license; if they fail to do so the city may revoke the certificate and issue it to another applicant.
Councilman Brown asked about multiple applications at the same address and whether applicants used different business names; Canfield said duplicate addresses were left in when she had no way to determine family relationships and that the process will treat the first-come application as controlling for address conflicts. Councilman McLaughlin confirmed staff checked whether applicants already held two state certificates.
The public lottery drawing will be held on Tuesday with two city staff members conducting the draw; the council will then vote on the resolution approving the 11 certificates.
