Tennessee Drive-Thru Store Owners Criticize Moratorium On Beer Permits

Knox County issues a 180-day moratorium on issuing new permits to stores with drive-through windows, a move that has store owners upset.

March 04, 2010

KNOXVILLE, TN - Last week??s approval by the Knox County (Tennessee) Commission of a 180-day moratorium on issuing new beer permits to stores with drive-thru windows has existing permit holders upset, Knoxnews.com reports.

Passage of the moratorium followed out of concern for alcohol sales to minors as well as to intoxicated drivers, though businesswoman Carol Morgan, who owns The Corner in Corryton, said that her drive-thru has never been cited for selling beer to minors, and that she doesn??t sell to drivers who have been drinking.

"If you card, you're not going to sell to underage people," Morgan said. "My customers are regulars. I can tell if they're messed up or not. Most of my people who come through the drive-thru don't even drink. They get milk and chips and bread and candy. . . . There's never been a violation at our drive-thru."

The Commission based its decision on a 1998 study from the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest in Albuquerque, N.M., that concluded "drive-up windows may facilitate alcohol misuse" in certain populations, and therefore, "contribute to drunk driving."

"[The] increased use among vulnerable populations suggests that drive-up windows may facilitate alcohol misuse in these populations and, thereby contribute to drunk driving," the study concluded.

Legislation in Tennessee that would prohibit drive-through sales of alcohol has stalled in a Senate committee. The bill?"S.B. 2486?"would ban cities and town from issuing or renewing permits to sell beer to customers at a drive-thru window or through curbside services.

Morgan warned that any attempt by the County Commission or the state to ban drive-thrus would resonate financially.

"If they don't want me to pay taxes, then just shut my window down and they won't get any money from me," Morgan said. "If Knox County doesn't need the revenue, if they don't need the taxes, then close down all the drive-throughs."

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