Effect Of Wills Point Alcohol Election Uncertain For Van

In 2005, a local option election petition in Van failed to get past the first gate.

Now that citizens in Wills Point have voted to make their city the first in Van Zandt County to legalize beer and wine retail sales, a similar effort in Van could be in the future.

"Anything is possible but it is hard to say what something will bring in the future," Van City Administrator Gary McDaniel said.

"A lot is going to depend on what happens in Wills Point on their tax revenue (from alcoholic beverage sales). More of that will be told after the first of the year (2010)," he added.

On Tuesday, the Van Zandt County Commissioners’ Court officially canvassed the election results of Saturday’s historic vote in Wills Point.

The official vote tally presented by Van Zandt County Clerk Charlotte Bledsoe was 464 in favor, 276 opposed.

"I figured it would be closer than what it was," McDaniel said, echoing the sentiments of many around the county.

Four years ago, a group of Van citizens tried to secure a petition for two local option proposals, one for beer and wine sales for off-premise consumption and the other for mixed beverage sales in restaurants.

However, the petition effort fell short of the required number of signatures to get it on the local ballot.

Speaking after the commissioners’ court meeting, Precinct 4 Commissioner Ron Carroll said he believed there would not be enough support for such a petition now.

"No, I just don’t see it happening in Van or Edom," he said, referring to the two incorporated towns in his precinct. "It may be there, of course, but I don’t see it, not in the real near future."

Carroll said he felt both communities leaned enough to the conservative side that a successful petition drive would again prove difficult.

"It is historic," he said about the Wills Point election. "I don’t see it spreading around the county, though. There may be more private clubs pop up, but I don’t see a rapid growth (of wet areas in the county)."

Economics could have the final say, though, McDaniel noted.

"Cities and counties know they can’t keep going up on (property) tax. There has to be other ways to survive and generate local revenue these days," he said.

Van Zandt County Precinct 2 Commissioner Virgil Melton Jr. agreed.

"Municipalities and governments everywhere are looking for more ways to generate funds…and we’re running out of options," he said.