The limit of three was set Tuesday night at a special meeting of the Lancaster City Council.
"I feel like three was a legitimate number. Seven really wasn't necessary," Rinthen said. "We have commercial space on Danville Road, U.S. 27 and Hwy. 52, all of which are major roads. One (packaged store) on each will be fine."
Rinthen said the next step in the process is for him to draft an official letter to ABC informing the agency of the city's decision to limit the licenses.
More ordinances required
The mayor said the city also will have to set certain other alcohol-related ordinances before accepting applications for liquor licenses that would then be passed on to ABC.
Nathan Jones with ABC said his agency typically does not get involved until 60 days after the election's verification, which, in Lancaster's case, happened on Aug. 20, the day following the vote.
One exception, however, is that once a city does set an ordinance on how many liquor licenses it will award, ABC runs ads in the local paper letting citizens know how many are available.
Jones said applicants will be screened locally and while ABC does require a certain process in applying, most stipulations are set locally.
One thing applicants must do for ABC, however, Jones said, is run an advertisement announcing intent in the local newspaper. Jones said this is to give the public a chance to protest.
Two City Council members, Jimmy Crutchfield and Jerry Domidion, abstained from the Tuesday night vote, while all other members voted in favor.
Rinthen said while three is the limit for now, there's always the possibility of asking ABC to grant additional ones. He explained that should a major chain announce its intention to expand to Lancaster, it would be possible to ask ABC to up the number Lancaster has set.
