Wet/dry election to have significant impact on Southern Dallas

by Michael Davis of Dallas Progress

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To the proponents, I hope the urgency of you hastily forcing this proposition on all of Southern Dallas to benefit a few it was worth it.

A lot has been made about Proposition One, the vote that will open up the entire city of Dallas for beer and wine sales. I just wanted to highlight a few things regarding this vote.

Anyone saying that one politician is trying to make a decision for an entire part of the city is either delusional or asinine. Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway is simply carrying out the will of his constituents, and that will be reflected in the vote breakdown in Tuesday's election. I'm sure he would like help from some of the other local elected officials, but other than Councilwoman Carolyn Davis, no one stepped up. In addition, I seriously doubt that many of the stores along the wet/dry line will close if this vote passes. Will you really be able to tell the difference between having 15 stores vs. 20? Probably not.

Little or no thought was put into how this vote would effect Southern Dallas

I don't think the opposition would be as strong in certain neighborhoods if there were some legitimate safeguards in place. Because of the sloppiness of the proposition language, there are no new safeguards that will be in place if/when it passes. The proponents dumped this referendum on Southern Dallas without any regard for the neighborhoods.

This election will affect Southern Dallas much more than it will North Dallas. The main reason is the location of the stores and zoning that will allow alcohol is much different. Retail in North Dallas is almost exclusively located along main thoroughfares. In Southern Dallas, there are retail stores on secondary streets right in the middle of the residential areas.

Once an area is either affluent or revitalized, adding alcohol sales won't make much difference in the safety aspect of a neighborhood. However, I believe it is a problem in economically depressed areas that you have been trying to improve. Unless you've taken part in such an effort, it's difficult to convey how much work and time it takes to improve a neighborhood that has suffered from abject poverty, crime, and blight.

Dallas County bracing for 1,000 booze permits after wet-dry election

It is estimated that 800 of those applications will be for locations in Southern Dallas.

I wonder how many people know how hard it is to fight ONE beer + wine application because of the state laws. I do. It took months just to successfully oppose an application from an applicant near the corner of Lancaster and Saner.

Here are a few locations that will go wet in Oak Cliff:

The corner of Sunnyvale and Ledbetter has long been a nuisance corner. Five stores occupy this corner. While Ledbetter is a major thoroughfare, the concentration of stores is a huge concern.

Ann Arbor Food Store; Ann Arbor and Frio

Stop and Save Mart; Ramona and Overton

Marshall Grocery Store and Up in Smoke Cigarette and Paraphernalia Store, Vermont and Ewing

Motions Grocery Store; Corinth and Morrell

Kiest Market; Cedar Crest and Kiest

These are just a few stores that are currently open. There are many more that have been closed and could easily open back up to become beer and wine stores.

What types of alcohol will be sold in Southern Dallas?

Here's one example. This is a can of Four Loko. It has 12.6% alcohol content. It has the alcohol content of 5-6 beers and twice the amount of alcohol as malt liquor. It is sold in South Dallas and East Dallas. It is not sold at the 7-Eleven on Fitzhugh and Travis, but it is sold at others in East Dallas (shown above at the friendly discount of two for $5). It's marketed to teens to look like an energy drink, and is responsible for numerous cases of teen drinking problems and poisonings.

To the proponents, I hope the urgency of you hastily forcing this proposition on all of Southern Dallas to benefit a few it was worth it. I hope a few million in sales tax revenue was worth the further decimation of many neighborhoods that many of us have given our blood, sweat, and tears to improve. I hope I'm wrong about the effects it will have.

But then again, no one asked us what we thought about it. Good luck with that.

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