Selmer residents could see change to restaurant drink menu
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SELMER, Tenn. — Restrictions on restaurants that sell beer in Selmer could loosen, which is good news for some but a change many are not supporting. Any restaurant sitting within 1,000 feet of a school, church or park cannot sell beer, but city aldermen have voted to change that. Aldermen have voted to lift the ban that not only affects restaurants, and not convenience stores. “The way I look at it, people that drink are going to get alcohol one way or the other,” Selmer resident Tammy Kiser said. “They’re either going to go out of town, which is revenue for other towns when we could get it here in our town.” Some restaurant owners said they are choosing not to publicly take a side and are staying neutral to customers who want to see alcohol on the menu and those who do not. The change in the city’s laws could have big impacts on 4th Street Church of Christ, which is in plain sight of one restaurant, El Palomino. “One of the problems with allowing alcohol into your county is that this is eventually what happens and it’ll continue to do this,” Minister at the church Jeremy Weekley said. “We’ll continue to lose restrictions, I have no doubt.” Mayor John Smith explained his view in a statement: “It’s disheartening to churches and schools that beer could be sold on their doorstep.” The mayor has 10 days to sign the ordinance or veto his aldermen’s decision. He has not said what he plans to do.
