1-2 months before beer, wine shows up locally
Robbinsville – The Town of Robbinsville has forwarded the first beer and wine application to the state since the November 2021 election, when residents voted to resume some alcohol sales for the first time since 1948.
Robbinsville Mayor Shaun Adams completed the local paperwork for Ingles supermarket on Sweetwater Road.
“Ingles has to send their paperwork to the North Carolina ABC Commission and it is completely in their hands, as the town has did everything on our end, and the gentleman I dealt from Ingles estimated it would be 1-2 months before the N.C. ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) Board got all of it processed,” Adams said.
The next application submitted for Mayor Adams’ to sign a “local government opinion form” is from the Shell gas station and convenience store at 374 Rodney Orr Bypass, next to McDonald’s, Adams said.
Others inquiring about obtaining beer and wine licenses have come from the El Pacifico and Caffe de Olla restaurants, and the Family Dollar store.
“I encourage anyone else that is interested are welcome to come to the town hall and pick up their packet, so they can get the process started,” Adams said.
A safety inspection by the Graham County Building Inspector Jacob Nelms was the last step necessary in order for Adams to complete paperwork for the Ingles application. That inspection took place last week, after a COVID-19 postponement from the previous week.
Robbinsville legalized beer and wine sales following a series of near-misses in 2021.
It was put on the ballot by a 2-0 vote of the Town Council in April 2020 with two members absent – including Adams, then an alderman who opposed beer and wine sales. The measures narrowly won in November, including one that passed by just two votes.
Alcohol in Graham County has been banned since the late 1940s, when residents decided they had enough of rowdy lumbermen and millworkers tearing up the town on payday weekends, according to some historical accounts.
Church leaders had opposed legal beer and wine sales in Robbinsville, fearing it would see a return to Robbinsville’s rowdy past.
Beer and wine is now legally sold in Robbinsville and the Town of Fontana Dam, which set their own rules, as well as Snowbird Lodge and Historic Tapoco Lodge, which as resorts are exempt from the alcohol ban.
Mead, which is fermented honey, is locally produced and sold at Wehrloom Honey.