I happened upon a story where the Knoxville City Council upheld their 300 ft setbacks from churches, schools, day cares, hospitals and funeral homes for applicants seeking beer permits. Somebody needs to help me understand why we need a setback. Let’s go through them one by one. If a church is worried their members are going to sneak out for a beer before or after service, they have more problems than one. Some churches look down upon consumption and some embrace it, but either way having to go 301 feet for a beer isn’t going to change anything. Not sure why schools are an issue either, the tikes are not allowed to buy beer so no worries and the same for day care businesses. If a toddler is bellying up to the bar and being served we all are in trouble. Someone on the council argued a day car near a taproom would go out of business. I doubt parents of a quality day care are going to pull out their kids should a brewery or tap room open within 300 feet. Of course we want a separation for hospitals because, well, I have no idea why. Perhaps to keep someone from…oh nevermind, there is no good reason. Finally we land on funeral homes. Either they don’t want family members to drown their sorrows, or they want to be sure the dead don’t rise up for a beer. A Chicago area funeral home has a liquor license so they obviously know something Knoxville doesn’t about the dead and beer. It is worth noting there are no setbacks in downtown Knoxville and business hasn’t suffered. Setback laws such as this are stupid and those who support them seem incapable of change even when it is clear change should come.
