The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors on Monday decidedagainst signing a petition in support of allowing beer to be servedat the nearby Oak Tree restaurant.

The petition must have the signatures of 80 percent oflandowners within a 300-foot radius of the restaurant on ChickasawStreet before the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen can act on therestaurant request. The board of supervisors, however, will not beamong the signees.

“It wasn’t that they didn’t support the petition, they justdidn’t take a position,” said board attorney Bob Allen.

The board was counted as a landowner because of the proximity ofthe Lincoln County-Brookhaven Government Complex’s western parkinglot near the Oak Tree.

The board – which would have counted as only one name on thelist – declined to take any action on the petition, citing reasonssuch as safety, the potential for litter in the county-ownedparking lot and the possibility of being perceived by the public as”alcohol supporters.”

Even if supervisors had signed the petition and alcohol-relatedaccidents had occurred on county property – the board’s initialconcern when the petition was proposed two weeks ago – they wouldhave been in the clear, however.

“They had asked me to look into liability, and what I found wasthat they would have no more or no less liability if they hadsigned the petition,” Allen said. “At that point, it pretty wellanswered that question and put it on a neutral basis. It became anon-issue.”

The board’s decision to basically ignore the petition will notautomatically kill it.

Oak Tree Co-owner Marty Walker said he needs 21 of the 26adjacent landowners to fulfill the 80 percent requirement.

Walker said he would consult with his business partners andcontinue monitoring the progress of the petition. He has promisedthat alcohol sales at the restaurant, if allowed, would be strictlyguarded, saying he did not want his establishment to turn into a”bar and grill.”

“A lot of customers came in and requested,” Walker said ofpotential beer sales. “It’s more a customer request than it isours.”