Teetotal town set for first alcohol sale in 104 years

For the first time in more than a century, beer and wine by the glass will go on sale in a small town in Michigan with the granting of a drinks licence to a pizzeria.

“We could be serving in six to eight weeks,” Vitale’s Pizza co-owner Ryan Snyder told The Grand Rapids Press today.

Voters in Zeeland, a 6,000-member community with a conservative Dutch heritage, approved an end to the 104-year-old alcohol sales ban, 1,425 to 1,385, in November last year.

Business leaders say they hope allowing drink licences will help the town attract a “fine-dining” restaurant and spark new business activity in the town centre.

However, Vitale’s was the only applicant, and to date no other businesses have applied for a licence since the ban on alcohol sales was lifted, said deputy city clerk Karen Jipping.