Heights Preschool will have Houston's first 'alcohol-free zone' around property

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A first-of-its-kind alcohol-free zone will be established around a Heights-area day care after Houston City Council voted on Wednesday to pass it.

Houston City Council voted on the proposal, which would set up a 300-foot zone around Heights Preschool where alcohol cannot be sold. The city has similar zones set up around public schools, churches, and hospitals, but this will be the first around a day care.

A decade ago, the city passed an ordinance allowing day cares to seek alcohol-free zones, but until now, no one had applied for one.

The owners of Heights Preschool, located on Oxford near 20th Street, say more than 100 kids are enrolled in the school, and parents say the ban on booze sales will help keep their kids safe.

"Houston has bars on nearly every other corner, but few safe places for children," Chad Mason addressed council members on Tuesday prior to the vote. "I am asking you to vote for children's safety and vote for allowing the 300-foot alcohol free zone. All schools currently have this simple ordinance. Why shouldn't 100 vulnerable children of Heights Preschool have the same?"

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