Alcohol Election Petitions Returned

Local option election petitions for Grand Saline and Fruitvale were returned to the Van Zandt County Clerk’s Office on Friday, setting the possibility of May elections for alcohol sales in both cities.

Tuesday was the deadline for the petitions to be returned, Van Zandt County Clerk Charlotte Bledsoe said.

Her office staff will begin the process of verifying the signatures on both petition forms. If the petitions meet the required number of valid registered voters’ signatures, the petitions will be brought before the Van Zandt County Commissioners’ Court at its Feb. 23 meeting. The court will then set local option elections in May.

Alcohol sales supporters in both cities are seeking three local options to be placed on the ballot. Those options are for beer and wine sales for off-premise consumption, all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption (full package stores) and mixed beverages for on-premise consumption by food and beverage certificate holders.

The last of those options, if approved by voters, would pave the way for restaurants to begin serving beer, wine and mixed drinks without having to obtain private club licensing.

Grand Saline has one restaurant, Papadale’s Grill and Cantina, which currently serves alcoholic beverages under a private club license. The city is also home to a Veterans of Foreign Wars Post that carries a private club license.

The two cities were part of a failed effort in November to bring the same alcohol sales options to Van Zandt County Justice of the Peace Precinct 1.