Burleson elects to allow liquor stores
13,889 residents vote for, 6,752 vote against allowing liquor stores to operate in Burleson
BURLESON — Burleson voters elected to allow liquor stores to operate in Burleson in the local election Tuesday.
13,889 Burleson residents voted for allowing liquor stores while 6,752 voted against it, according to the unofficial results published by the city Wednesday.
Burleson City Council approved holding a special local-option election for the allowance of liquor stores to operate in Burleson after 5,505 signatures on a local option-election petition were verified and accepted by the city February 27, meeting the 5,430-signature requirement to order the election. The signatures were submitted February 2 before the February 5 deadline.
11,359 of the favorable votes and 5,659 of the votes against came from Johnson County residents while 2,521 favorable votes and 1,093 votes against came from Tarrant County residents.
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Because Texas requires liquor-serving restaurants and bars to buy liquor in the same county they serve it, Burleson restaurants in Johnson County will be able to buy liquor in Burleson once a liquor store opens instead of having to buy from the only currently-open liquor store in the county, Alvarado’s Liquor Depot.
AJ’s Liquor operates in Gateway Station on South Freeway and a Spec’s liquor-store is being developed off FM-1187 outside of Burleson city-limits.
Burleson business-owner Chad Johnson led the petition to allow liquor stores to operate in Burleson with Texas Petition Strategies because he wants to open a liquor store in Burleson and offer people and businesses in the area a more convenient option than driving to Alvarado or Fort Worth.
The city council and planning and zoning commission approved liquor-store zone-updates at a joint public hearing in March.
The city council and planning and zoning commission approved updating the zoning code to include liquor-store zoning in an effort to not allow liquor-stores to be built liberally across the city.
The city will zone liquor-stores to be built and operated “by right” in industrial zones and allow for special-use permits in general retail and commercial zones. Allowing something to be built and operated by right in a certain zone means the builder/operator wouldn’t need special permission from the city council.
At the city council meeting January 8, the council discussed opting to allow liquor-stores to be built and operated by right in industrial zones because the industrial zones have regulations that’d prevent residential or commercial properties from being built adjacent to the liquor stores.
The council’s approved zoning updates will also not allow liquor stores to be built within 1,000 feet of each other or within 300 feet of Old Town or interstate-highway 35.
The council’s approved zoning updates include requiring new liquor-store buildings to be at least 5,000 square feet. This was the only change the council and commission made to the Burleson planning staff’s recommended updates. The planning staff’s recommendation was a 7,500 square feet.
The zoning updates will also require liquor-stores to have separate entrances for deliveries and customers, polycarbonate or shatterproof-filmed windows and increased landscaping standards for “beautification” and will prohibit walk-up/drive-through services.
Hope to see good economic development out of this decision.