Details Emerge On Lower Makefield Alcohol-Sales Effort

LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA — Details on the plan to push for a referendum that would legalize alcohol sales in Lower Makefield Township have begun to take shape.

Backers of the plan, which would overturn the township's 70-year-old policy outlawing the sale of alcohol, plan to begin collecting signatures later this month. Currently, Lower Makefield is the only municipality in Bucks County that doesn't allow any alcohol sales.

"This is about giving the people of Lower Makefield a choice," state Sen. Steve Santarsiero said at a news conference on Friday. "Whether the referendum passes or not, that decision should be made by the residents. That’s what this referendum is all about."

(Watch Friday's press conference by clicking here.)

Starting on Jan. 28, backers of the Your Town Your Choice effort will post petitions at four Lower Makefield locations — Shady Brook Farm, McCaffrey's Supermarket and DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies.

They'll have until Tuesday, Feb. 18, to get the 500 signatures needed to place the referendum on the ballot for the April 28 presidential primaries. Anyone who is registered to vote within Lower Makefield Township may sign the petition.

If approved, the referendum question would read: "Do you favor the granting of liquor licenses for the sale of liquor in the Township of Lower Makefield?"

A new state law 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.

According to backers of the effort, the location of establishments that could sell alcohol would be regulated by township zoning ordinance. Based on Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board quotas, Lower Makefield would be entitled to no more than 10 restaurant liquor licenses.

After that, the board of supervisors would have authority to approve or deny additional licenses within the township.