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WINONA LAKE - Calm heads and civil arguments prevailed Thursday night at Grace Brethren Church as area residents aired their opinions on the possibility of alcohol being served in Winona Lake.
The gathering, billed as an informational meeting, included approximately 150 people who were interested in the alcohol issue. Development under way in the town will include a lakeside restaurant and a restaurant in the restored Winona Hotel.
Brent Wilcoxson, who, along with Dane Miller is creating a historical development based on Winona Lake's past, told the assembly that plans call for an upscale restaurant in the hotel that may sell beer and wine.
While Wilcoxson said, "I have no desire to bring more alcohol into Winona Lake," and that his preference would be to "see the restaurant operate without an alcohol permit," he would not discount the possibility of beer and wine sales to make the restaurant succeed.
Two kinds of alcohol sales permits are available, he said: a two-way permit that allows the sale of beer and wine, and a three-way permit that allows the sale of beer, wine and liquor.
If a business in a town with a population of less than 5,000 wants to sell liquor by the drink, which requires a three-way permit, the town council must pass an enabling ordinance. The ordinance is the town's way of saying it approves of the sale of liquor inside city limits.
The business may apply for a two-way permit to sell beer and alcohol without the town council passing an enabling permit.
The final authority on granting a permit rests with the Alcoholic Beverage Commission in the county and in the state, and any permit granted must be renewed annually.
Because Wilcoxson is also the president of Winona Lake's town council, several people questioned his intentions should the council ever vote on an enabling ordinance.
"No one has asked for that to happen and as far as I know, no one has an intent for that to happen," he said. "If I am not willing to submit a request for an enabling ordinance then I'm not going to vote in favor of it."
Most people who spoke against the sale of alcohol in the town said they believed it to be contrary to the Billy Sunday heritage and to the town's image as a Christian community.
"Equating Christianity with abstaining from alcohol is a great error," Wilcoxson said. "The Bible does not forbid alcohol, so please don't equate the issues."
He also pointed out that when Stonehenge was annexed into the town with an alcohol permit, no remonstrators opposed the annexation on the basis of alcohol sales.
No one at the meeting voiced opposition to the planned historical development, and when a resident thanked Wilcoxson for his work in improving the town, the crowd applauded.
At the beginning of the meeting Wilcoxson detailed the plans for the development, which he said will ultimately cost approximately $18 million. It should generate an additional $12 million in tax revenues, he said, and is projected to bring an additional 300 cars per day into Winona Lake.
The expected completion date for the project, which includes a rerouting of Park Avenue, is March 2000.
Before the meeting Wilcoxson opposed allowing reporters to attend, saying it was his private meeting for Winona Lake residents only. When asked to let the people attending the meeting decide whether they wanted press coverage, he declined, saying it was his decision.
