Duncanville group seeks to allow restaurants to serve mixed drinks without Unicard

by Angel Morris of Duncanville TODAY

The folks who brought beer and wine to Duncanville are moving forward with another initiative to allow local restaurants to serve mixed alcoholic beverages without a Unicard requirement.

On June 29, Duncanville Citizens for More Shopping & Less Taxes announced the filing for a local liquor option election set for Nov. 6.

"This will not be any thing different than we have had for years, except the Unicard or a private membership will no longer be needed in our restaurants," Steve Martin, treasurer of DCMSLT, said.

The election — which costs about $43,000 to secure — will be held in conjunction with statewide constitutional amendments placed on the ballot by the Texas legislature this fall.

"The cost is being paid for by restaurants such as Pappadeaux, Toshio's, developers such as The Shops at Waterview Park, Costco's padsite and others," Martin said.

"One individual businessman here in town in the insurance business donated $5,000 because he knows that it is a good thing for Duncanville although he has no personal gain from it passing."

Voting to do away with private memberships will be a plus for the city's economic development, according to Martin, who said it will make it easier to bring quality restaurants to Duncanville.

"This will also help our existing restaurants by requiring less paperwork, not having to request customers for a membership card and making it easier to attract new customers from neighboring cities," he said.

While no specific new restaurants are committed to Duncanville should this pass, Martin said developers are assisting with the success of this election because they are confident it will attract new eateries.

"It will be easier for developers to sign restaurants to leases. Blue Canyon Restaurant and the Hilton Garden Inn have donated and are supporting this because it will ease their operations and save hassle to the customer and bookkeeping," Martin said.

National Voter Outreach—the group that handled the successful beer/wine petition drive in Duncanville two years ago—will also gather signatures for this election.

DCMSLT considered including the Unicard issue in the beer/wine election, but did not want to confuse voters. Today, Martin expects the issue to pass voter muster with ease.

"I don't think that there will be very much (negative) response at all since we have been able to purchase mixed beverages all along anyway," he said.

"I really can't see it failing since it doesn't affect what residents already have. The only difference is they won't have to show a Unicard to have an (alcoholic) beverage with their meal.

"When Olive Garden and Red Lobster came to town years ago, they had to get a special use permit and then had to have a private membership card. This will only ease operation of restaurant businesses," Martin said.

Martin stressed that residents should not be concerned that this would allow bars to open in the city.

"You must be a restaurant to use this option," he said.

Those considering voting on the issue should keep one factor in mind, Martin said.

"The one effect this will have on residents is they will see new restaurants and see them sooner than expected."