Alcohol Sales Question To Appear On Lower Makefield Ballot

LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA — Voters in Lower Makefield Township will get to decide in April whether to allow alcohol sales or remain the last dry municipality in Bucks County.

Organizers of an effort to put the issue to a vote say they submitted around 900 signatures to the township by a deadline earlier this week — far more than the 500 required to get the question on the ballot.

"Lower Makefield Township voters will now be able to vote on April 28 to allow liquor licenses to be considered in appropriately zoned areas of the township," said state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, who represents Lower Makefield and supported the effort. "Under state law, a maximum of 11 licenses would be allowed in the township. This will help keep the commercial areas vibrant going forward."

The vote could overturn Lower Makefield's 70-year-old policy outlawing the sale of alcohol. Currently, Lower Makefield is the only municipality in Bucks County that doesn't allow alcohol sales.

(Some exceptions to the law have been approved by supervisors over the years, including beer and wine sales at Shady Brook Farm's tavern.)

Organizers officially began their effort on Jan. 28 and had until Tuesday to get the signatures needed to place the referendum on the ballot.

The referendum question will read: "Do you favor the granting of liquor licenses for the sale of liquor in the Township of Lower Makefield?"

A new state law pushed, in part, by Santarsiero has made getting such referendums on the ballot easier. Legislation by Santarsiero was rolled into another bill and signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in July.

The legislation reduced the number of signatures needed to get a referendum on the ballot from 25 percent of the highest vote total cast for any office in the municipality (for Lower Makefield, that would be 2,930) to a flat 500 resident signatures.