By Alexis Aguirre
With the approval of a proposition that extends alcohol sales in Buda, current business owners now contemplate whether they should take advantage of the new law.
Their choice comes after Buda voters on Nov. 3 approved Proposition 1, which allows alcohol sales in Buda to be extended to 2 a.m. Previous law in Buda said that alcohol could only be sold up to 1 a.m. on Sundays and midnight every other night.
The unofficial results showed that voters were split almost evenly with just 58 percent, or 378 votes, in favor of relaxing alcohol restrictions, with 42 percent, or 271 voters, against it.
Buda now joins Kyle and San Marcos that allow businesses to sell and serve alcohol until 2 a.m. In order for businesses to be able to extend their hours, they will have to apply for a second permit, a mixed beverage late hours permit, with the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission.
Kyle enacted an ordinance allowing for later alcohol sales in 2014.
Greg Henry, owner of Willie’s Joint BBQ, thinks the passing of Proposition 1 is a step in the right direction for the city and will keep customers’ money in Buda.
“People don’t have to go to Kyle, San Marcos or South Austin anymore,” Henry said. “They now have the option to stay here in Buda.”
Henry is still looking into the proper procedure to keep his business open later.
“I would probably start out on the weekends. Stay open later and see how it goes from there,” Henry said.
Tavern on Main owner Julie Renfro said she is still weighing her options on whether to pay the extra expense and apply for the second permit.
“I think I probably will apply,” Renfro said. “Mostly for private parties though, that way I can relax the closing times a little bit. I am still thinking about it.”
Renfro said she tends to get a lot of wedding parties who just want a place to hang out and has often had to send them home due to the last-call hours. Renfro sees this as an opportunity to keep people in town for those extra couple of hours.
“I probably won’t change my [business] times completely, just relax them a little bit and only stay open for the people who are already here,” Renfro said. “It will be very crowd dependent on whether I would stay open all the way until 2 a.m.”
