White County Commissioner TK Austin and Commissioner Becky Golden resigned from the county beer board following the failure of a resolution to implement a 300-foot residential distance requirement for beer permits.
A 7-2 vote Monday night fell one short of the eight votes required for passage. Austin and Golden stepped down from the three-member board in protest, leaving one commissioner as the sole remaining member. That effectively halted the board’s ability to conduct business until new appointments are made.
“I would like to publicly announce that I am resigning from the beer board,” Austin said. “I’m not going to be a part of it.”
Chairman Derrick Hutchings said the county must now reconvene its nominating committee to fill the vacancies. County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said the beer board could legally meet with only two members, but not with one. Robinson expects the nominating process to begin during the next round of steering committee meetings.
“Make that two, I resign as well,” Golden said. “I’m very disappointed, I’m just going to say that. I am very, very disappointed tonight.”
The failed resolution, sponsored by Golden and Austin, sought to establish a 300-foot buffer between residential properties and businesses seeking beer permits. Hutchings said the measure was intended to protect homeowners from high-volume traffic and disturbances in residential areas.
The debate centered on a pending beer permit application for a site that previously housed a church. Local resident Evans Martin said the transition from a low-volume church to a high-volume business would negatively impact the neighborhood and the safety of children playing in nearby yards.
“I live about 300 feet away from the place that’s about to get a beer license or apply for a beer license,” Martin said. “And you know, when it was a church, it was kind of a low-volume establishment I guess, you know, they were there on Sundays. There was never any disturbances or anything and then you know, this business comes in here and whatever kind of business it is, it’s a high-volume business, it really changes the front yards of a few people.”
Hutchings said he voted against the resolution because he believed changing the law while a permit application was active could lead to legal trouble for the county. Hutchings said the applicant followed existing laws, and the commission should not “single one guy out” by altering the rules mid-process.
“My morals say that I’m going to uphold the law that’s wrote and that’s how I feel, so that’s why I voted no for it,” Hutchings said. “Once this beer permit that is pending is resolved, I will gladly vote yes for it, but until that, I am not going to do that because that we have an outstanding issue that needs to be resolved before the laws changed. To me it only makes a gray area until the permit is resolved because he applied for the permit, the permit was denied, and then he’s applied again.”
The nominating committee is expected to meet in early May to begin the process of selecting new beer board members.