After a group of Pearland residents was unable to overturn the city’s restrictions on alcohol sales last year, a company has stepped in to help loosen those laws.

A private consulting firm, which was contracted by Maryland-based Total Wine & More, successfully petitioned the city for a local option election to be placed on the Nov. 8 ballot. The ballot measure could allow businesses to sell alcohol for off-premise consumption only.

Now, residents will have a chance to vote to take Pearland a step closer to being a wet, or non-prohibition, city.

“Folks were very willing to sign,” said Tim Reeves, vice president of The Eppstein Group, which was contracted to gather signatures for the petition.

Pearland strictly regulates the sale of alcohol, only allowing businesses that have acquired a food and beverage license from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to sell mixed beverages—liquor, beer and wine. But to qualify for the permit, alcohol sales cannot exceed food sales, according to TABC. Liquor stores are currently forced to take up shop just outside city limits.

Local option election

To place the measure on the ballot, employees from The Eppstein Group went door-to-door collecting signatures. The firm applied for the petition on June 9 and collected 8,004 of the required 7,038 valid signatures by July 21, according to documents filed at the city secretary’s office.

Pearland voters could overturn city liquor restrictions[/caption]

Even if voters approve the ballot measure, liquor stores could face regulations. Council members have moved quickly to update the city’s development code in time for the election.

“It’s not like liquor stores are going to pop up,” Pearland City Council Member Greg Hill said. “If it’s not something that council wants to put in, in that location, it won’t be allowed. It’s as simple as that. It’s a restrictive zoning that they’ll be subject to.”

City Council is amending its zoning ordinances to include a special permit for liquor stores seeking to open in Pearland. The permit could attach restrictions on location and design.

Council members performed the initial reading of the new ordinance during the Oct. 10 public meeting. City Council is expected to vote on the new ordinance Nov. 21.

“The idea is that we’ll vote on it and have that decided before the election comes through. So the zoning is in place already, and we won’t delay anyone’s development if they get started,” Pearland council member Trent Perez said. “We’re giving the maximum opportunity for the citizens of Pearland to voice their opinion for one, if they want to have it at all, and two, whether they want to live next to that use.”

Previous efforts

This is not the first time Pearland voters have taken to the ballot box to loosen alcohol restrictions within the city limits. In 2007, The Pearland Chamber of Commerce hired a consultant to reform Brazoria County laws. The consultant successfully placed the measure on the ballot, and voters approved beer and wine sales for off-premise consumption and alcohol sales in restaurants.

Last year, members of Leadership Pearland, an emerging leaders program sponsored by the Pearland Chamber of Commerce, petitioned the city to allow for mixed beverage sales in an attempt to draw more businesses and boost the city’s nightlife. The petition would have allowed for bars and other high-end restaurant establishments to move into the city, but Leadership Pearland failed to collect enough signatures.

Members of Leadership Pearland formed a political action committee, or PAC, called Pearland Citizens for Economic Freedom to petition the city a second time for mixed beverage sales in late 2015. But the petition failed again; it was more than 2,000 signatures short by the January deadline.

PCEF and The Eppstein Group did not work together to petition for the Local Option Election on the ballot.

The private consulting firm that successfully petitioned the city was unaware of previous efforts to overturn restrictions on alcohol sales in Pearland, Reeves said.

PCEF co-chairman Seth Thompson is glad to see alcohol sales restrictions loosen even if it's not exactly what his organization pushed for. PCEF has no immediate plans to petition for bars and other alcohol dominant establishments for on-premise consumption.

“Pearland is very residential, and we would like to get more commercial development. Lifting the restrictions would allow for more nightlife options,” Thompson said. “We’re the third-largest city in the Houston area, and we’d like development like that as well.”

Pearland is not the only municipality to have a local option election this November. Twenty-five cities and counties in Texas have a ballot measure to loosen restrictions on alcohol sales, according to TABC.