NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1975 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 116

HOUSE BILL 420

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL STORES AND UNCHILLED WINE AND MALT BEVERAGE SALES IN THE TOWN OF VALDESE.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1. An election shall be called in the Town of Valdese upon written request of the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Valdese or upon a petition to the appropriate Board of Elections conducting elections for the Town on the question of submitting to the qualified voters of the Town the question of setting up and operating in the Town of Valdese an alcoholic beverage control store, or stores, as herein provided.

Sec. 2. The election shall be called in the Town of Valdese by the Board of Elections conducting elections in said Town only upon the written request of the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Valdese, or upon a petition to the Board of Elections signed by a number of voters of the Town of Valdese equal to at least twenty percent (20%) of the number of registered voters of the Town of Valdese according to the registration figures as certified by the Board of Elections on the date the petition is presented to the appropriate Board of Elections. In calling the special election, the Board of Elections shall give at least 30 days' public notice of the election before the closing of the registration books for said election, and the registration books shall close at the same time as for a regular Town election. A new registration of voters for such special alcoholic beverage control election is not required, and all qualified electors who are properly registered prior to the registration for the special election, as well as those electors who register for the special alcoholic beverage control election, shall be entitled to vote in the election.

Sec. 3. Unless otherwise specified in this act, the procedural requirements relating to the petition shall be as provided in G.S. 18A-52(b), (c), (d), and (e), except the question shall be "FOR" and "AGAINST" municipal alcoholic beverage control stores.

Sec. 4. The appropriate Board of Elections shall immediately call an election pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 18A-52, which is hereby adopted, subsections (a) through (i), except that subsection (j) shall allow the presentation of one or more of the following:

"FOR" or "AGAINST" off-premises sales only of unchilled unfortified wine.

"FOR" or "AGAINST" off-premises sales only of unchilled malt beverages.

This section shall in no way be construed as to limit the provisions of G.S. 18A-52, but is solely to allow the additional questions as to unchilled malt beverages or wine to be presented to the voters in addition to those contained in subsection (j) pursuant to the 1973 amendment of the North Carolina Legislature or to be in addition to any questions which might later be allowed by the Legislature.

Sec. 5. Those favoring the setting up and operation of alcoholic beverage control stores in the Town of Valdese shall mark in the voting square to the left of the words "For municipal alcoholic beverage control stores" printed on the ballot, and those opposed to setting up and operating alcoholic beverage control stores in the Town of Valdese shall mark in the voting square to the left of the words "Against municipal alcoholic beverage control stores," printed on the same ballot. If a majority of the votes cast in such election shall be for municipal alcoholic beverage control stores, then an alcoholic beverage control store, or alcoholic beverage control stores, may be set up and operated in the Town of Valdese as herein provided. If a majority of the votes cast at the election are against municipal alcoholic beverage control stores, then no alcoholic beverage control store shall be set up or operated in the Town of Valdese under the provisions of this act.

Sec. 6. If the operation of a municipal alcoholic beverage control store is authorized under the provisions of this act, the Mayor and Board of Commissioners of the Town of Valdese shall immediately create a town board of alcoholic control to be composed of a chairman and two other members who shall be well known for their character, ability and business acumen. Said board shall be known and designated as "The Town of Valdese Board of Alcoholic Control". The chairman of said board shall be designated by the Mayor and governing body of the Town and shall serve for his first term a period of three years and one member shall serve for his first term a period of two years, and the other member shall serve for a period of one year; and all terms shall begin with the date of their appointment, and after the said terms shall have expired, their successors in office shall serve for a period of three years. Their successors and any vacancy occurring in the board shall be named or filled by the Mayor and the governing body of the Town.

Sec. 7. The said Town of Valdese Board of Alcoholic Control shall have all the powers and duties imposed by the General Statutes on county boards of alcoholic control and shall be subject to the powers and authority of the State Board of Alcoholic Control the same as county boards of alcoholic control as provided in the General Statutes. The net profits remaining after first deducting necessary working capital, salaries and expenses, including those sums expended for law enforcement and for education on the excessive use of alcoholic beverages and for the rehabilitation of alcoholics as required by G. S. 18A-17, shall be distributed to the general fund of the Town of Valdese to be used for any lawful purposes. The said Town of Valdese Board of Alcoholic Control and the operation of any town liquor store authorized under the provisions of this act shall be subject to and in pursuance with the provisions of Chapter 18A of the General Statutes, except to the extent which the same may be in conflict with the provisions of this act. Wherever the word "county" board of alcoholic control appears in said Chapter, it shall include the Town of Valdese Board of Alcoholic Control.

Sec. 8. The appropriate Board of Elections shall, upon request by the Board of Commissioners or a petition signed by twenty percent (20%) of all registered voters of the Town, call a subsequent election for the purpose of voting "For" or "Against" liquor control stores. If a subsequent election shall be held and at such election a majority of the votes shall be cast "Against Municipal Alcoholic Beverage Control Stores", the Board of Alcoholic Control shall, within three months from the canvassing of such votes and the declarations of the result thereof, close said store and shall thereafter cease to operate the same, and within said three months the Board shall dispose of all alcoholic beverages on hand, all fixtures, and all other property in the hands and under the control of said Board and convert the same into cash and turn the same over to the Town Finance Officer. Thereafter, all Public, Public-Local, Private and Session Laws applicable to the sale of intoxicating beverages within said Town of Valdese in force and effect prior to the authorization to operate a municipal alcoholic beverage control store shall be in full force and effect as if such election had not been held, until and unless another election is held under the provisions of this act in which a majority of the votes shall be cast "For Municipal Alcoholic Beverage Control Stores". No election shall be called and held in the Town of Valdese under the provisions of this act within three years from the holding of the last election thereunder. It shall be the duty of the Board of Elections conducting elections for the Town of Valdese to order the special liquor election herein authorized within 60 days after request by the Board of Commissioners or a sufficient petition has been filed requesting the same. But no election under this act shall be held on the day of any biennial county or town general election or primary election, or within 45 days of any such election.

Sec. 9. This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 8th day of April, 1975.