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Garrard resort seeks alcohol sales

February 19, 2009|TODD KLEFFMAN

LANCASTER - If you hit a hole in one at Peninsula Golf Resort, owner Greg Johnson hopes it won't be too long before you'll be able to celebrate by buying a round of drinks at the clubhouse.

Johnson said he is mounting a petition drive that seeks to put the question of alcohol sales by the drink at the golf course to voters in the Buena Vista precinct.

"We just began circulating the petition today," Johnson said Wednesday.

When voters in Lancaster approved alcohol sales last year, it created a wet precinct in the county that paved the way for Peninsula to go after alcohol sales. State law allows golf courses to have a local option vote in the precinct where they are located if there is another wet area in the county.

In order to get the matter on the ballot, the petition will need signatures from 25 percent of the registered voters in the precinct who voted in the 2008 general election.

According to Garrard County Clerk Stacy May, 690 people cast ballots in Buena Vista in November, meaning Johnson will have to collect 173 valid signatures to put alcohol sales to a vote. If the petitition is certified, a local option election will be held in the precinct between 60 to 90 days after certification, May said.

Johnson said he has no deadline for gathering enough voters' signatures to complete the petition drive.

"I hope they'll respond favorably," he said.

The golf resort, which opened in 1997, is open to the public and has accommodations for 96 overnight guests on the property. It is full most weekends during golfing season, Johnson said.

By-the-drink alcohol sales at the clubhouse would add significant revenue, Johnson said. Golfers who like a drink currently bring their alcohol with them from an outside location.

Another plus for the resort would be an increase in private functions at the clubhouse, Johnson said. He said he's lost several office parties and wedding receptions over the years because alcohol was not available.

"We feel like, especially with the way the economy is, any way you can improve revenue is important," he said.

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