Voters in Houston's historic Heights neighborhood are casting ballots Tuesday to loosen alcohol restrictions that require restaurants to act as private clubs.
The “dry” ordinance dates back to 1912 and was kept in place when the city of Houston annexed the Heights six years later.
“The way the law works is we're not necessarily open to the public because you have to be a member to drink here, and the alcohol sales, they're not selling the beverage, they're providing a service to members of the club,” says Bryan Poff with Texas Petition Strategies.
Poff's group helped collect petition signatures to place Proposition F on the ballot.
“The only voters who can vote on this are voters that actually live within the historic boundaries of the Houston Heights as it existed back in 1917, which was when the last time the city of Houston Heights had an election,” he says.
Those same voters decided a similar dry law last year.
“Now that voters approved beer and wine for HEB, these restaurants are saying 'hey, we appreciate you supporting HEB, how about you do the same thing and help us?'”