Whiskey Hypocrisy

It’s all about the church. Or the kids. Or both. Or just maybe it’s government trying to legislate morality.

County BZA rejects request

My head. It explodes.

It’s bad enough that Pittsylvania County rejected a legitimate small business, but that doesn’t surprise me based on how dysfunctional that their government process is. It’s really bad when Henry County rejects any kind of business proposal because their economy is in the tank much worse than here.

It does bother me that churches and their members who have a high likelihood of drinking some adult beverages use that objection to start a slippery slope argument against a very good business plan like this.

Although all who spoke said they did not have any animosity toward either Puccio or Willis, they said they did not want a distillery in their community, citing religious objections and concerns that the distillery would be a target of crime. Additionally, several said they were concerned that students from nearby Hope Academy, which is part of County Line Church, would be exposed to the distillery.

Religious objections? Puh-leeze. Odds are that more than one of those people either smoke or drink. Target of crime? No more than any other small business. Children exposed to the distillery? My god, they’ve stretched to the point that reality is going to tear.

My strongest objections come from this…

Following the objections, BZA member Paul Setliff said that although the board’s decisions deal with land uses, the code it adheres to offers some latitude for the board to consider community objections based on moral grounds and general welfare concerns.

Stop. Stop right there. Whiskey is a legal product. Fruit-infused whiskey is a quite tasty legal product. Government should never be in the business of legislating morality. Cigarettes should be just as taboo to churches because smokers are defiling their body which is a temple. Do we want government regulating and banning that? At least more than government is trying to do now, that is. As for general welfare concerns, that’s total horsecrap. There are absolutely no general welfare concerns and that board of zoning appeals is using that as a crutch to strongarm their beliefs on the county and keeping a chokehold on the economy’s ability to grow.

Bad decision. Horribly bad decision. If memory serves me right, these two guys are currently suing Pittsylvania County for their identical decision due to arbitrariness.  I hope they win and I hope they find a place in the Southside region that would be happy to have a new small business locate there.