Wednesday's Internet Edition, March 10, 2010.

Members of the city zoning board were deadlocked on a request from George’s Restaurant and Pizzeria during a Jan. 20 meeting, denying the question the majority vote it required.

Board members Ernie Fox and Betty Walker voted against the request, with chairman Jackie Nichols and Anthony Roberts in favor. Members Steve Fetty and Dick Parrill did not attend.

City attorney Tom Whittier said the tie meant there would be no variance in city ordinance to allow the beer and wine sales. Four votes, a majority of the board, would have been needed to allow the special permit.

Whittier said the meeting was valid because a quorum was present.

“Those who gave up the chance to vote gave it up,” Whittier said, adding that restaurant owner George Lulgjuraj had the option of reapplying in hopes of getting a different result.

“No, I’m just going to let it go,” Lulgjuraj said after the meeting. “I was going to take a chance.”

Lulgjuraj had been working with the city for several months on the request. A three-page agreement prepared last November would have required the restaurant to offer “premium quality beers and wine” only when served with food. The agreement also anticipated that the sale of food would not constitute any less than 90 percent of the restaurant’s overall business.

Whittier said the agreement was a compromise between the city’s competing interests of promoting business and limiting special use permits.

“I was trying to compare with everybody else,” Lulgjuraj said, referring to out-of-town restaurants such as Olive Garden that offer alcohol. “Some people like to have a glass of wine with Italian food. I thought I’d go ahead and try.”

The variance to city code was needed because the location of George’s at 215 Main St. is in close proximity to public buildings including the Roane County Courthouse and magistrate court.

Four of the five members of the public who attended the afternoon meeting at the Spencer Municipal Building spoke against issuing the permit. No one spoke in favor.

“It’s a nice family environment and I wouldn’t change one thing about it,” Karen Hawk, a George’s customer, said.

Herb Perrine said he was concerned about alcohol abuse in the schools and thought the prospect of people drinking in public would set a bad example.

“I think that would contribute to further drinking,” he said.

Ruby Callow agreed that George’s should maintain a family-friendly environment and 12-year-old Jessica Hawk supported that view.

“I don’t want to be there with a whole lot of people drinking,” she said.

The board also received a letter signed by four “concerned residents of Roane County” who stated the alcohol sales would be against their Christian family and moral values.

Fox and Walker both cited their religious convictions in opposing the permit.

“I enjoy going into George’s without alcohol,” Fox said.

Walker said she does not go to Pizza Hut in Spencer because it sells beer and that most local residents go out of town to drink. Beer sales at Pizza Hut predate the current city ordinance.

“It’s nice to have a family restaurant on Main Street,” she said, noting that George’s would probably lose customers if the permit were issued.

Nichols said she understood the concerns, but thought George’s should be treated like convenience stores and Walmart, which offer beer and food sales.

“You can order all the food you want and also buy all the beer you want,” she said. “I feel we have to be fair.”

Roberts thought the decision to sell alcohol should be left up to Lulgjuraj.

“If he loses customers, it’s his fault, not ours,” he said. “I’m not taking business from a man downtown, sorry.”

Lulgjuraj, who did not offer a statement during the meeting, said he would continue with business as usual.

“I’ll try to do the best I know how,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, oh well. I’ll shut it down if I have to.”