After two closed sessions and much debate, the Frisco City Council voted 4-1 to call a special election on Nov. 4 to allow citizens to weigh in on allowing restaurants to stay open until 2 a.m.

A passed ballot measure on Nov. 4 would not automatically mean late night hours would be put in place. Residents on Nov. 4 would be voting to allow the City Council to reconsider the issue after it was turned down by voters in May 2008.

Tim Nelson, John Keating, Will Sowell and Scott Johnson voted in favor of calling the special election. Jeff Cheney voted against. Bob Allen was out of town and not present at the meeting. Mayor Maher Maso votes only in case of a tie.

The decision was made on Aug. 18—the last day the council could call for a special election on Nov. 4.

Cheney and Sowell both expressed concerns about government transparency because the issue was brought before the council for consideration with little notice to member or the council.

Cheney said he believes late night alcohol sales hours is in the best interests of the city of Frisco, but said the business community is not vested in the issue and "should be embarrassed" how they are representing the issue. He said he'd like to see the businesses invest the time to get a petition together to get the required signatures that would allow for a special election without city council involvement.

His second point of contention was that he thinks the November special election was being pushed in an effort to influence the vote because those interested in seeing the ordinance change thought it would pass more easily in November rather than waiting for the May election.

"This is the type of bush league political maneuvers that loses the public trust," he said.

Sowell, too, said he did not understand why more business owners were not involved if late night alcohol sales meant that much to their businesses.

Council members in favor of the issue said they thought putting it on the Nov. 4 ballot was in the best interests of the developments in the works. With Wade Park and the Dallas Cowboys multiuse event center development both underway, council members said some restaurants would look at other developments—such as the Plano West development—because they could stay open until 2 a.m.

Scott Johnson said he thinks Frisco would be at a "tremendous competitive disadvantage" if the late night ordinance was not placed on the November ballot. He said he is willing to risk the appearance of a lack of transparency because he knows the council is not doing anything wrong. He said people have made "tremendous investments as a city and the council needs "to do everything we can to make them successful."

Maso said the discussion has been ongoing for years from different sectors, but said the impetus for the November ballot push was that he'd received multiple calls from separate entities saying they were having trouble landing deals because of the current ordinance.

He said he doesn't think the city can "afford to not go through with it," and dialogue would be plenty with residents and stakeholders in the months before the election.

Late night alcohol sales background

Late night alcohol sales were first brought into the spotlight in August 2007 when the City Council passed an ordinance to allow restaurants to extend the hours for alcohol sales to 2 a.m. with approved permits.

Under the ordinance, residents were required to receive a permit from the Texas Alcohol & Beverage Commission after review of the permit application by the city. If the proper permit was acquired, restaurants could sell alcohol and mixed beverages between midnight and 2 a.m. any day of the week. The ordinance did not apply to store sales of alcohol.

Residents took exception to the ordinance and in late September 2007 filed a petition with more than 830 signatures asking the issue be put before the voters.

The council in October 2007 voted 4-3 against repealing the ordinance, sending the issue to a May 2008 special election. At that time, six businesses had applied and received the "late night hours" permits from the city, which were no longer valid after the petition was filed.

The May 2008 ballot referendum to allow late night hours failed.