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FORT WORTH?The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission continues to field protests to an application from Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor in Arlington to sell beer in what has long been known as a family-oriented entertainment venue.
According to reporting by Sharon Geiger of KCBI-FM, the radio station of Criswell College in Dallas, staff from TABC explained the protest process during a Jan. 3 meeting in Fort Worth.
“Do we really want to send our youth groups?our church youth groups?to places where alcohol is served?” asked listener and activist Linda Rosebury in an interview with KCBI. She said the sale of beer threatens the park’s image as a safe place for families.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Andrea Ahles wrote that TABC had received 600 calls and a dozen letters as of her Jan. 8 report, all of them protesting the action announced by Six Flags on Dec. 17 to apply for liquor licenses. The mandatory 60-day waiting period ends Feb. 17 and then TABC will review the application, protests received, and determines whether a public hearing will be held.
Six Flags officials claim the effort is in response to customer requests for beer and pledged that such sales would be handled responsibly and ensure guest safety.
Noting the park’s pledge to offer quality guest services, John Bement, Six Flags In-Park Services senior vice president, told the TEXAN, “For quite some time, many of our guests have requested beer as an option while dining or visiting the park. In fact, several of the parks in the Six Flags system already provide such amenities and have done so successfully and responsibly for many years.”
Bement added, “As with our other parks, we will have very strict guidelines in place for Six Flags Over Texas, along with extensive training to ensure the serving of beer is done in a controlled and responsible manner. We only intend to sell beer and have no present plans to offer mixed drinks or hard liquor like some of our other competitors such as Schlitterbaun.”
Letter writers raised a variety of concerns, with one noting that TABC should conduct an Alcohol Impact Study to determine the threat to public safety and another urging the City of Arlington to protest the action as well.
The TABC website at tabc.state.tx.us/ features information about protesting an application for a permit under the license section.
“Some grounds exist for refusal or denial that are subject to interpretation on the basis of the facts involved,” the TABC website states.
Sections of the pertinent code provide for protests based on facts which show that the manner in which the business is operated or the place the business is located is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the public.
“These sections of the code generate the most numerous and complex cases,” according to the website statement which goes on to outline the process for filing a sworn statement of protest.
SBTC lawyer Shelby Sharpe explained that any citizen desiring to protest the sale of alcoholic beverages at Six Flags Over Texas (2201 Road to Six Flags, Arlington, TX 76010) and Hurricane Harbor (1800 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006) must file a protest with the TABS by Feb. 17, submitting a sworn statement identifying each applicant and requesting that the administrator refuse to approve the application for stated legal grounds.
“A sworn statement is one signed under oath before a notary public,” Sharpe said.
“If a protestor believes that these entertainment places are not appropriate places for the sale of alcoholic beverages,” then Sharpe said the protestor should consider stating as the legal ground for his protestthe statement found inSection 11.46 (8) of the TAB Code?the “place … in which the applicant may conduct business warrants the refusal of a permitbased on the general welfare, health, peace, morals, and safety of the people and of the public sense of decency.'”
Sharpe cited one argument in support of this legal ground is that if alcohol permits are denied because of the close proximity of a residence, church, school or day-care facility to the place where alcoholic beverages are to be sold and no approval would occur to sell these beverages in a school or day-care facility, then these entertainment places should be denied a permit since they are attended more by children accompanied by their parents or someone responsible for their welfare.
For more information, contact a local TABC office or write P.O. Box 13127, Austin, TX 78711 or call 512-206-3333. Local TABC offices are posted online or can be obtained by calling the Austin office.
To express concern to Six Flags management about the decision call Guest Relations at 817-640-8900 or 817-530-6000 or write to: Six Flags Over Texas, 2201 Road to Six Flags, Arlington, TX 76010 and Hurricane Harbor, 1800 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006.
