By JOYANNA LOVE/Senior Staff Writer

A change in the liquor license ordinance in Maplesville has cleared the way for the first restaurant to receive a restaurant retail liquor license.

Valle Grande Mexican Grill, LLC was unanimously approved for the license during the last Maplesville Town Council meeting.

While the vote to grant the license was unanimous, the vote to change ordinance was not. The council voted 4-2 in favor of removing all distance restrictions for establishments selling liquor. Previously establishments selling alcoholic beverages could not be within 100 feet, measured wall to wall, of a church or school. Maplesville Baptist Church is located across the street from the proposed restaurant site. Council members Shelia Hall, Richard Davis and Patty Crocker, along with Mayor W.C. Hayes voted in favor of the motion.

“I look at myself as being a public servant serving the people … the people of Maplesville wanted the restaurant to serve alcoholic beverages,” Davis said.

He said the establishment of another restaurant in Maplesville will be good for the town’s economy.

Council members Shelia Haigler and Hal Harrison voted against removing the distance restrictions.

“Personally, I just didn’t like it because the church has been there for 100 years,” Haigler said.

She said she felt the proposed site for the restaurant was a little close to the church. She said she was “not against them selling alcohol,” but felt the business owner should have researched the distance restriction before applying for a liquor license.

Haigler attends Maplesville Baptist Church.

Some council members said changing the ordinance was what the majority of the town wanted.

“The town favored it in a meeting that we held before,” Crocker said. “I think it will bring a lot of revenue to the town and bring growth that we need and [revenue] to improve infrastructure on the town.”

Haigler said the distance restrictions had been included when the ordinance was drafted earlier this year, after meeting with the Chilton County Commission and the Alcoholic Beverages Control board.

Both Haigler and Harrison said after the ordinance was changed there was not a reason to deny the license, so they voted in favor.

Restaurant owner Sergio Sanchez said during the meeting that he would not sell alcohol on Wednesday night.

A potential proposal to merely shorten the distance from 100 feet had been proposed to the council during its meeting. This option did not receive a motion. Some were also concerned about the legal issues that could come from such a change.

Harrison said he would have liked to keep some kind of distance restriction in place.

Of eliminating the restriction altogether, Harrison said, “I just thought that could cause further issues or concern for the town.”

A previous vote in October to allow the restaurant a liquor license had ended in a tie.

Chilton County residents voted in March to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages. Towns and cities in Chilton County have since established the guidelines and processes for licensing.