Heights preschool looks to establish Houston's first 'alcohol-free zone' around property

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Chapter 3, Sections 3-4 of the City of Houston's Code of Ordinances states the owner of a day care or preschool can request that the area around their business becomes a 300-foot "alcohol-free zone" if it's located in an area that's 75% or greater residential.

This would have to be voted on by the city council and would prohibit new bars, clubs, or liquor stores from opening in that space if the vote passes.

Existing bars, clubs, and liquor stores are grandfathered in, and new establishments licensed by the state of Texas as restaurants would still be able to serve alcohol in the zone.

A city of Houston spokesperson said the ability to do this has existed since 2005, but this March was the first time a preschool owner actually applied to make it happen.

Kelly Rosin owns Heights Day Preschool on Oxford Street and submitted her application on March 29.

She said she was previously unaware such an option existed and spoke about it in front of Mayor Sylvester Turner and the city council at a public session last week.

"My biggest concern is the safety of the children," Rosin said at the time. "A lot of our kids ride bikes, or they're with their families, or are in strollers."

Rosin declined the opportunity for an on-camera interview with ABC13 Wednesday afternoon.

Her request still has to be voted on to go into effect, but a man who helps bars and clubs become licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said it would set a bad precedent should it go into effect.

"Texas is the most highly regulated state as far as alcoholic-beverage laws go," Richard Wills of the Gerald Franklin Agency said. "I just don't think, at this time, we need more restrictive measures on the alcohol industry."

Wills said the industry has had a hard time recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and that this would create another hurdle for it to overcome if the zones become more widespread across Houston.

He also mentioned that the state of Texas establishes what's a bar and what's a restaurant based on sales and that these days restaurants are having to sell more alcohol in order to survive.

If an establishment makes less than 60% of its money off of alcohol sales, they're licensed by the state as a restaurant, but crossing that threshold will force them to be recategorized as a bar.

Wills believes that number, in many cases, is too low for a restaurant's ability to survive.

"I think it should be 65 or 70%," he said.

The city of Houston says a new restaurant that opens in an alcohol-free zone surrounding a day care or preschool would no longer be able to serve alcohol if it had to be recategorized as a bar. That would be in violation of the ordinance, and the business wouldn't be able to operate as a result.

Rosin's request was supposed to be voted on by Houston City Council on Wednesday, but that vote was pushed back to next week.

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