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County Line 073108
(by Dave Lange - July 30, 2008)
Can booze boost local economy?
The local police reports this summer have included the usual array of alcohol-related incidents.
A Chardon man was charged with assault July 13 in connection with a fight between two stepbrothers at a party on North Main Street in Chagrin Falls. Another local publication, which finds entertainment value in such grim occurrences, ran a banner headline claiming, "Soused sibling shows no brotherly love in drunken fight."
As of last week, South Russell police were still investigating a July 5 incident at a party on Sherbrook Drive in which two young adults were transported to medical facilities. According to witnesses, one of them had been struck by a baseball bat.
On June 26, a Bainbridge man was charged with disorderly conduct following a fight outside the Sports Page bar in Bainbridge. On June 21, an Aurora man was charged with criminal damaging after bar stools and beer bottles were thrown around the Crossroads restaurant in Solon.
Of course, area communities also have had their share of arrests for public intoxication, underage consumption of alcohol, drunken driving and thefts of beer from garages and basements. There's no telling how many other crimes, ranging from vandalism and public indecency to domestic violence, have connections to alcohol.
Although the vast majority of liquor consumers may do so responsibly and in moderation, sober observers would not describe drinking as an overall constructive contribution to society. So they may find it interesting that the Ohio Division of Liquor Control considers alcohol consumption a tool for economic development and that Chagrin Falls Village Council wholeheartedly agrees.
Two weeks ago, Village Council voted unanimously to recommend what is called a Transfer Exempt Economic Development Project liquor permit for a new restaurant that plans to open in a space on North Main Street that formerly was home to a jewelry store. More affectionately known as Trex permits, they are permitted in towns like Chagrin Falls, where the maximum number of liquor licenses available according to population criteria already have been issued -- if the new purveyor of alcohol can acquire a license from an owner in another town where the allowable number is not being used.
In other words, if people in Chagrin Falls do more than their share of drinking on Saturday nights than some other community, where, perhaps, people do more than their share of getting up early for church on Sunday mornings, the State of Ohio has some Trex up its sleeve to accommodate the differential.
But this top-shelf shuffle is a little trickier than that. Not only do local elected officials have to agree that, yes, they see the value of having more drinkers in their town, but the would-be proprietor must certify the number and classification of new jobs that will be created, including a salary breakdown, along with all estimated tax revenues.
Since Ohio law requires restaurants and taverns to pay their waiters and waitresses a whopping $3.50 an hour, one's imagination need not run wild to see why such businesses are considered so important to the economic development of places like Chagrin Falls.
There may even be a correlation between the number of liquor licenses in a community and the cost of building its new police station, where the employees at least won't have to depend on tips from satisfied customers.
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