Known for its annual wine festival as well as its breweries and wineries, Grapevine has become a popular place for residents and tourists looking to partake in a glass of wine or beer. However, by as early as November, residents and visitors may be able to buy more than just beer and wine in the city.
Voters in a Nov. 8 local option election will decide whether to allow “the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption only,” which, if approved, would pave the way for liquor stores in Grapevine.
A petition for the ballot measure, which was submitted to the city May 27 by a political action committee, Grapevine Citizens for Total Wine & More PAC, had 5,339 signatures, of which 4,590 signatures were verified by the Tarrant County Elections Administration. Grapevine City Council decided July 5 to send the issue to a public vote.
“We are looking to expand in the Greater Dallas-Fort Worth area,” said Edward Cooper, Total Wine & More vice president of public affairs & community relations. “There are a significant number of customers that come to our stores near Grapevine that are interested in a store. So we wanted to make sure that when real estate became available we would be eligible for a license.”
Currently, Grapevine shoppers can buy beer and wine at retail stores and mixed drinks at restaurants within city limits, but they must drive to nearby cities such as Colleyville to buy packaged liquor.
Additionally, Grapevine laws restrict businesses from selling alcohol within the city limits unless the business also acquires a food and beverage permit. To qualify for the food and beverage permit, an establishment is required to receive at least 51 percent of gross sales tax revenue from food sales.
Nearby Colleyville allows liquor stores, but Southlake does not.
Total Wine & More’s efforts
The petition effort had the financial backing of Total Wine & More, a liquor, beer and wine retailer. The retailer hired a legislative and business consulting firm to help circulate the petition.
Cooper said the company thought Grapevine would be an ideal location for a store because many Grapevine residents already travel to nearby Lewisville to visit its Total Wine & More store.
Cooper said Total Wine & More has not identified potential property sites.
“There are a limited number of places that we can put a store,” he said. “We would look to lease in a large, commercially zoned area that can fit our store—our stores range from 20,000-30,000 square feet.”
The Maryland-based liquor store chain most recently financially backed petition efforts in Allen, where voters passed a similar ballot measure by more than 61 percent.
Grapevine City Council Member Paul Slechta said he is not concerned about the ballot measure passing.
“If this is approved, we are going to make sure that we have the best liquor stores possible,” he said. “I’m not against liquor stores as obviously the tax dollars would be a huge benefit to the city. I personally don’t see it affecting the brand of Grapevine—otherwise I would be 100 percent against it. At the end of the day the voters are going to decide what is going to happen, and it’s [the council’s] job to carry it out.”
The Grapevine Chamber of Commerce has not yet taken a position on the ballot measure, said William Moore, chamber director of communication.
Opposition to the measure
A PAC in opposition to the ballot measure, Grapevine Family PAC, formed in June.
“We are against this petition,” Grapevine Family PAC Treasurer Michael Morris Sr. said. “We talked to cities where they have done this before and heard they have created a lot of problems. [Total Wine & More is] basically the Wal-Mart of liquor stores—they will come in and try and run off everybody else. We want to make sure our businesses downtown stay.”
Morris said the group is still working to get organized and has begun collecting money for the effort.
Other arguments against liquor stores focus on their effect on local businesses.
With five wineries opening in the past two years, Grapevine has seen an influx of such facilities. Some residents and winery owners have expressed opposition to the measure because they feel competition among existing wineries combined with large alcohol retailers will cause some wineries to suffer.
“I do believe the liquor stores will take business away from the wineries— especially if Total Wine is part of the mix,” said David Besgrove, owner of Grape Vine Springs Winery. “Their selection is very large and well-priced. With liquor stores being as close as Colleyville, I see no need for the city of Grapevine to introduce liquor stores. People will continue to visit the wineries for tastings, but bottle sales will suffer [if liquor stores are allowed in Grapevine].”
Council Member Mike Lease said the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as the council would have little say in where a store can be located, outside of state laws requiring establishments to be a certain distance from churches and schools.
“We would certainly be able to look at each case on an individual basis, but to be able to just turn one down because it was a liquor store is impossible and it is not legal to do that,” he said. “And the locations they are able to go are pretty wide-spread. We have a tremendous amount of undeveloped commercial property and commercial property that can be redeveloped that could be a potential home for a store. And that’s what we would be opening ourselves up to as a community.”
