Published: September 21, 2009 11:22 am      

Friday’s revelation by a local real estate developer and businessman that a major chain restaurant broke off negotiations with him after they learned they would not be able to sell liquor by the drink confirms a belief long held by some in our community. (see “City lost one restaurant because of law”, Friday, September 18, Picayune Item.)

Friday’s revelation by a local real estate developer and businessman that a major chain restaurant broke off negotiations with him after they learned they would not be able to sell liquor by the drink confirms a belief long held by some in our community. (see “City lost one restaurant because of law”, Friday, September 18, Picayune Item.)

Since the 1970’s we have listened to folks promote the theory that “if we could only get liquor legalized in Pearl River County, we could attract some major businesses to our area.” And we have listened to the nay-sayers who proclaim liquor by the drink will signal the coming of crime, corruption and addiction to our county.

Now we know one of those is true, and we now know for sure that businesses like the restaurant mentioned in Friday’s article will never locate here, nor will others, unless we make some changes in our current laws.

Along with restaurants like these come jobs and careers for our people, increased taxes for the city and an opportunity for further growth for the entire county.

Looking at how other communities in Mississippi have handled the liquor problem you can see that some have done it wrong and some have handled it extremely well. As stated in a previous editorial on this page, if we handle it well it will not mean there will be package stores, bars and nightclubs in our community. If we do it right it will mean that restaurants, hotels and selected private organizations will be allowed to sell liquor and wine with their meals. If we do it right it will be up to the city administration to have final approval as to who gets licenses to sell liquor by the drink.

We need to get behind this proposal, get these petitions signed and get to a vote. Other organizations and businesses should endorse the idea. The Chamber of Commerce is one group that surely should be able to recognize the impact passage of a liquor by the drink law, with complete oversight by the city, would have on our business community. Local businesses should be vocal in their support instead of hiding behind the fear that “we may alienate too many of our customers.”

If we do it right it will mean the accelerated economic growth of Pearl River County. If we don’t do it at all then we can look forward to more years of little or no economic growth and the steady stream of dollars flowing down I-59 to Louisiana.