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Voters across Bastrop County will decide in November whether to expand where and how alcohol can be sold, with separate local-option elections planned in each of the county’s four justice of the peace precincts, as well as the cities of Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville.
In a nutshell
The propositions will ask voters whether to allow the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages.
Why it matters
Officials said the elections aim to address varying wet and dry rules that leave some neighboring businesses with different options for alcohol permits.
In Bastrop, for example, areas annexed after the city’s 2005 local-option election retained their dry status.
Bastrop officials said during a July 28 meeting that the November proposition is intentionally worded to include all alcoholic beverage sales, including mixed drinks, to get Bastrop County and its municipalities "all on the same page."
A closer look
Bastrop City Council member Kevin Plunkett, who owns Old Town Restaurant & Bar and co-owns Piney Creek Chop House in downtown Bastrop, said allowing all alcoholic beverages now gives the city more flexibility later to regulate alcohol sales without holding more local-option elections.
“This gives us a one-time chance to just allow everything, and then if we want to pull it back from there, we’re able to do that through ordinance,” Plunkett said.
What’s next
The elections will be held Nov. 3, with early voting scheduled for Oct. 19-30.
Community Impact will provide additional election coverage, including candidate Q&As, polling information and more, as voting approaches.
