Will Grant County vote for booze?

Noah's Ark and booze don't seem related.

But in Grant County, the building of a full-scale replica of the Ark and a lack of hotels and bars has added pressure to the latest attempt to allow full alcohol sales in Grant County.

Residents will go to the polls Dec. 22 to decide whether to make Grant County a "wet" county - joining other Northern Kentucky "wet" counties Boone, Kenton and Campbell.

Many elected leaders support the measure while others question whether it will increase drunk drivers, spur addiction, and ruin the bucolic feel of the community.

It's an economic development issue, said Williamstown Mayor Rick Skinner. Next year the group behind Boone County's Creation Museum will open the Noah's Ark-themed Ark Encounter in Williamstown.

While that might not attract a hard-drinking crowd, Skinner wants plenty of hotels in his city to accommodate the anticipated traffic. Hotels in Grant County can't currently sell alcohol.

"The time is right because of the economic consequences," Skinner said. "We're in a time where it's proven the "moist vote" didn't hurt Grant County or Williamstown."

That description, "moist," refers to the fact that most of the county is dry, save for exceptions in three of Grant County's cities — Williamstown, Dry Ridge and Corinth. During the past several years, all three cities voted for limited alcohol sales.

Only five restaurants in the entire county serve alcohol. The law in Grant County limits alcohol sales to restaurants that seat at least 100 people and have 70 percent of the receipts from food. There are no liquor stores, nor is beer sold at convenience stores.

The Ark isn't the only factor spurring supporters of alcohol sales in Grant County.

Darren Spahr wants more dining options around his home in Dry Ridge. Most restaurants in Grant County are fast food, he said. Main Street in Dry Ridge doesn't have much in the way of entertainment. A gun store, pawn shop, auto parts store and beauty salons surround an "End Grand County prohibition" sign Spahr put in the middle of town.

Spahr led the petition this summer that gathered 2,400 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

"If you want to go to the movies or go drive to a nice restaurant, you have to go down to Lexington or up to Northern Kentucky," Spahr said. "In the end, hopefully more amenities will open up here."

The issue is more than just about drinking, said Dry Ridge Mayor James Wells. Wells supports it and said he hasn't heard much opposition to alcohol sales.

"I think it will bring a tremendous economic benefit to the city," Wells said. "One of the biggest things we hear is 'what do we do to get more restaurants and entertainment?' This is the first step to do that."

Brooke Rider, who owns The Josephina Event Venue in Dry Ridge, helped gather signatures to get the issue on the ballot. While she doesn't think its passage will impact her two-year-old business — the venue doesn't serve alcohol but allows it to be brought in for events — the Dry Ridge resident does think it will help the county.

"We have a lot of tax dollars that are going north or south, and it would be great to keep those here," Rider said.

Some, however, see danger in turning Grant County wet.

A drunk driver hit Audra Taylor, 33, of Williamstown and her two children two years ago. Her son, now five, was paralyzed from the crash. She doesn't support the measure.

"My little boy will suffer the rest of his life all because of drugs and alcohol," said Taylor, while working in her beauty salon in Dry Ridge. "We don't need more of it."

Grant County has voted down liquor sales before. A campaign orchestrated by churches from across the country helped defeat a wet/dry issue in Grant County in 2000.

There is still church opposition.

Tim Seever, pastor at Sherman Church of Christ in Dry Ridge, is the spokesperson for Citizens Against a Wet Grant County, the organization opposing the issue.

"Our concern is trying to keep just another avenue for addiction in our communities and in our county" away, he said.

"As a minister, I’ve had families that I’ve counselled over the years where one or both spouses are addicted to alcohol," the Crittenden resident added. "It’s ruined their marriage, it's ruined them financially, it’s hurt their children."

Seever, who doesn't drink, said that making alcohol readily available within the county could lead to that addiction, and to other problems, such as drunk driving.

He said he doesn't believe proponents' claims that a vote in favor of making Grant County wet will bring in more restaurants.

"Restaurants could come to town now if they wanted to, as long as they have enough seating to serve alcohol," he said, noting that the areas with the greatest population are already moist. "That incentive is already there. If they were going to come, I think they’d be here by now.”

If his side loses, Seever fears a change to the look of the county's communities, with bars filling the many empty buildings there.

"The landscape of our county will change dramatically if this passes," he said. "I don’t think people realize how much of a change there will be.”

Others in Grant County think that 82 years after Prohibition ended nationwide, it's time to end prohibition in Grant County. Among them: Russell Jump, who has lived most of his 67 years in Dry Ridge. He walked his dog a recent Friday in downtown Dry Ridge and said he will vote to allow alcohol sales in Grant County. He sees no harm in it.

​"I don't think it'll be no worse than it is now as far as drinking and driving," Jump said.

With passionate supporters on both sides of the issue, Seever said his group has been cautious about trying to keep the discourse civil.

"We’re not trying to approach it as a church against the world kind of thing, either," he said. "It’s more of a personal choice for a lot of people."

Booze laws in Kentucky by the numbers

31: Completely dry counties

53: Moist counties that have cities that sell alcohol but ban alcohol elsewhere

36: Wet counties that allow alcohol sales, including Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties in Northern Kentucky

$25,000-$35,000: Cost of the special election on Dec. 22 in Grant County to vote to allow alcohol sales. The cost is being borne by the county.

Source: Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control and Grant County Fiscal Court

What you need to know about the Dec. 22 referendum

What will be on the ballot: Are you in favor of the sale of alcohol beverages in Grant County? Yes or No.

When: Dec. 22, 6 a.m.-6 p.m.

Where: Same precincts as the general election.

Why Dec. 22?: Kentucky law requires voting machines be sequestered 30 days from the November election. Poll workers had to be trained and schools needed to be available to serve as precincts. Dec. 22 was picked because schools were closed on that day, said Grant County Clerk Tabatha Clemons.